Sailor Moon XYZ
by marcus00721
Summary: A new enemy has made their presence known, and it's up to the Sailor Scouts to repel them! What are they after? What is their goal? However, the group of six soon learn that they aren't the only ones out there.
1. Chapter 1: Foreshadowing Darkness

"What is this…?" [She found herself alone in the darkness. Not just any kind of darkness, a cold darkness. She couldn't see a thing. Not even her own hands. She continued to walk, unsure if she was even moving forward. She continued to walk until she heard a faint noise]" H-hello? Is anyone there?" [The noise continued, revealing itself to be some kind of laughter. Upon hearing the laughter Rei shot awake, looking around her room. Upon looking she suddenly remembered the others that were in the room in Hawikai Shrine, studying. Well, they were supposed to be studying for an upcoming exam at least. The only one who was really into the studying was Ami Mizuno, and it was like her eyes had been glued to the book. Usagi Tsukino had fallen asleep with her face in a book] "Usagi…"

Usagi was fast asleep, mumbling something that sounded like, "Mamo-Chan…"

Rei sighed, and turned to look at the girl on her left, Makoto Kino, who was looking on at the same book Minako Aino was reading "You guys are still studying?" No one gave a response. "Mako-Chan?"

Makoto turned her head to Rei, revealing herself to be grinning you "Yes Rei-Chan?"

Rei narrowed her eyes "What are you grinning at?"

"Uhm…! Nothing…!" [Mako whispered something to Minako, but she was too spaced out to even notice

Rei rubbed her temples, obviously annoyed "I'm not even going to bother with this. I'm too tired. Ami-chan, can't we just study tomorrow?"

Ami's eyes slowly left the pages of the book as she looked up to look at Re] "Come on Rei-chan, we can study for at least another hour."

"Quick question," Mako chimed in, "Is what Usagi-chan doing considering studying?" She pointed a finger out to show the others the sleeping Usagi

Rei groaned, "Of all the…" She leaned over the table "USAGI!"

"WHAA!" Startled by the shouting and sudden awakening, Usagi jumped awake, looking around

Usagi's scream didn't even bother Minako that much, she just placed her book on the table and smiled "Afternoon sleepy head."

"I fell asleep…er…I mean…I fell asleep!? Oh no…just when I was studying some good stuff...!" Usagi looked around the room; pouting a bit as she saw that no one was buying her performance

"Usagi-chan," Ami sighed," "Can't you just take this studying seriously?" Those exams aren't too far from now and we need to be prepared.

Usagi sighed softly "I know I kn-…" She stopped in mid-sentence, scanning the room "…Where's Chibiusa? She was here, right? Or was I dreaming?"

Mako shook her head, "No, she was here. She left though."

"Where to?" Usagi quickly asked, a glare appearing on her sweet and innocent face.

"She said she was going to hang out with Mamoru." Mako answered. Immediately after Mako finished her sentence Usagi shot up and dashed out the door before anyone could even blink

"….Oh well! Without Usagi-chan there's no point in this group study right? Right!?" Minako asked, her eyes gleaming with hope.

Ami sighed and closed her book, standing up along with the others "Yes, I suppose we can't do much now. I guess we can just call it a day."

Minako nearly jumped for joy, "Ye-…I mean…that's too bad. I'll see you guys later." She calmly walked out the room, then quickly changed into a sprint

"I'll see you guys later." Mako bowed slightly and left the room.

"Goodbye Rei-chan." Ami also bowed slightly and left the room

A few minutes later Rei was outside, leaning against the wall.

"Ugh…" Rei held the sides over her heads with both of her hands, shaking her head slightly, "What was that dream about…? I shouldn't think about it too hard. I'm going to get some rest now…" She yawned and went into her room

Above the skies of Tokyo, a small black hole appeared. Inside the black hole was an entirely different dimension. Inside that dimension was darkness. And in the darkness, there was a castle. Castle Dark. On a small platform in a large room stood the king of darkness himself. Count Dark. His suit dark, his face covered from that hat he was wearing; only allowing some of his blonde hair to show, and his black cape flowing slightly from the cold air.

"Minions!" Count Dark threw his right arm to the side as he called out. Appearing before him in almost an instant was a big hefty fellow. He wore a tan shirt, had a ginger color to his beard, wore brown pants and thick black boots

"Hiya Count! How are you doing this fine day~?" the burly man said in a rather feminine voice.

Count Dark chucked slightly, "I'm doing fine my dear Mimi," He said with a slight smile on his face, "You would almost pull of O'Chuckten's look if you had his accent."

"Aw shucks Count? Really~?!" Mimi said with excitement. At that moment, a jester appeared. His yellow eyes glowing in the dim area

"And in a flash I appear like a sudden windstorm at a kindergarten picnic!" The Jester said, raising his right arm up into the air to add a more dramatic effect to his entrance.

Dark nodded slightly, "Ah, Demintio, how nice of you to join us. Now we can get started as soon as Nastansia and the real O'Chunkten arrive." A girl with red glasses, blue hair, and wearing a white lab coat walked in behind the Count

NNastansia adjusted her glasses before speaking, "I'm here count, right on time." Right after she spoke, the real O'Chunkten dropped from the ceiling and landed on his feet

"Aye! Sorry 'em late Cou- " O'Chunkten frozen in his tracks, quickly noticing the other him standing not too far from him "Aye! What's dis madness?! Mimi?!"

Mimi giggled and a quick puff of smoke appeared as she transformed into Demintio "Yes~?"

Demintio shook his head, shrugging his shoulders, "They say imitation is the best of flattery."

Mimi then rolled her eyes, "Uh-huh…"

Dark cleared his throat, gathering everyone's attention. "Now that you're all here, I believe it's time for us to start our plan."

Nastansia's eyes widened from excitement. "You mean…?"

Dark nodded, smirking slightly. "That's right. We must start collecting the 7 Pure Souls so we can let the darkness take over the world without interruption."

"Yay! Our plan for spreading darkness is finally about to begin!" Mimi clapped her hands happily.

"As you know," Dark started, "There are 7 Pure Souls we must collect. Red, White, Green, Purple, Blue, Yellow, and the most important: The Golden Soul. As you also know, I already hold possession of the Dark Soul. It's what gives me my powers."

"So my dear Count," Demintio asked, "Do you know where we should start looking?"

The Count grabbed the tip of his hat with two fingers and brought it down over his eyes, creating a shadow in which his eyes couldn't be seen. "Somewhere around this place called…Tokyo…"

Nastansia quickly waved her hands, thinking the Count was thinking something rash. "I don't mean to be rude Count…but…Tokyo is a rather large place. We can't just barge in and start looking. That'll hinder our progress too much."

Dark shook his head, as if he was saying there was no need to worry. " I am aware of this. Luckily…" He held up a picture "A target has been revealed."

"How do weh know if someone's got a Pure Soul?" O'Chunkten asked, rubbing his orange beard.

Dark rested his hand on his cane, using the other one to help his oncoming explaination, "If the soul you extract from the target isn't one of these colors. Also, if a holder of a soul does an exceptional act of purity, the soul will resonate with the holder, giving itself away."

Demintio closed his eyes, rubbing his chin. "Hm. I see. So, who's the lucky person who gets to go out first?"

Dark promptly tossed the picture at O'Chunkten. "O'Chunkten, since you were late, you have the pleasure to go scout out the area. Nastanisa, prepare a Monsuta to accompany him."

"Yes sir." Nastansia bowed slightly before leaving to go to her lab

O'Chunkten held in a slight groan, but nodded. " Ah man…Yes sir!" He took a look at the picture. The target? Rei Hino.

Meanwhile, in the crowded city of Juuban, a little girl with pink hair was dragging around an adult with black hair through the crowded city streets.

Chibiusa was looking around as she and Mamoru passed several stores. Her eyes quickly settled on a candy store not too far away. "Oooh! Mamo-chan, can we go into the candy store? Pleassse!?" She looked up at Mamoru with big puppy dog eyes

Mamoru folded quickly, putting his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay! I won't be getting you too much though; wouldn't want you to get cavities."

Chibiusa grinned "Yay!" She smiled wide and started to drag Mamoru to the candy store before stopping suddenly due to some kind of resistance "What?" She looked up and saw Usagi holding onto Mamoru's other arm, attempting to tug him in the opposite direction "Why are you here!?" She yelled, starting to tug again

"I can't leave Mamo-chan alone with you! He's mine!" Usagi yelled back, attempting to tug Mamoru in the opposite direction.

Mamoru sighed, somehow being used to this sort of thing, then came up with an idea "Hey! If I buy you both some candy, will this end?" Both the girls stopped and looked at him

"I would love that Mamo-chan!" Chibiusa nodded several times, then glanced at Usagi, smirking slightly, "Although this wouldn't have even happened if /someone/ wasn't so clingy!"

"You-!" Usagi was about to start yelling when her communicator started going off, "Got lucky this time? Hello?"

Rei's image appeared, "Usagi, you and the others left some of your stuff back at the shrine. Come get it."

Usagi groaned, feeling stupid that she forgot something see actually needed, "Yeah yeah…I'll be there." She turned off her communicator and got a sly grin "Mamo-chan, I'll gladly take that candy offer. As for you…" she turned her attention to Chibiusa, "You're coming with me, and staying away from Mamo-chan!" She grabbed Chibiusa by her wrist and quickly darted off back to the shrine.

Chibiusa attempted to break free of the sudden grab, but her efforts were in vain, "Hey! Lemme go! Not fair!" She yelled as she was dragged. Mamoru stood there with a confused look on his face, then rubbed his arms for a minute or so before stepping in the candy sho.]

At the Shrine:

Rei was humming softly as she was brushing the near the front of the building.]

O'Chunkten was standing behind a tree, observing Rei, somewhat stalkerishly looking if someone had seen him. "Aye…dat's dah target eh? I guess da direct approach is the best way to handle this." He stepped out of the trees and made his way towards Rei. "'Xcuse meh lass."

Hm? Rei looked up at O'Chunkten, not yet sensing the threat the man was actually posing. "Can I help you with something, sir?"

"Why yes, you can. We can do this either the easy way, or the hard way."

Rei took a few steps back, tightening her grip on the broom, "W-what?

"Are yeh deaf lass? I'll try da easy way first. Gimme ya Pure Soul. It'll save us both a lot of trouble."

"I don't know what you're talking about! Go away you weirdo!"

"Hard way it is then." O'Chunkten sighed and took a step forward]

"I said back off!" Rei swung the broom at O'Chunkten's side, but the stick broke in two upon contac] "Wh-what…!?" She dropped the broom and took another step back; her face had a tint of blue to it; she was obviously starting to freak out. "Who is this guy?!" was one of the few thoughts racing in her mind as she took a step back.

On the stairs just near the Shrine:

"You all left your stuff too huh?" Minako felt slightly better that she wasn't the only one who had forgotten something.

Usagi rubbed the back of her head, "I left my bag…"

"I forgot a book. Silly me. " Ami smiled a bit.

Makoto tilted her head, "Why did you bring Chibiusa?"

Chibiusa crossed her arms and pouted, "Because I had Mamo-chan all to myself!"

Usagi quickly looked down at Chibiusa, "Quiet you pest!"

Minako giggled a little bit before asking, "Well, since we're all here we might as well go up right?"

Mako and Ami both nodded. "Yeah."

Front of the Shrine:

O'Chunkten was surprised at Rei's resistance. "Aye, why must yeh even try to resist. It won't help against meh."

"I have to transform!" Rei thought, pulling out a red pen. She then raised her transformation rod into the air "Mars Star Power-"

"Hush, lass." Before Rei could transform, O'Chunkten back handed Rei, causing her to fly into a tree and drop her rod

"U-ugh…" Rei looked up, her sight blurry from the impact.

"Now then." O'Chunkten grabbed Rei by the collar of her robe and lifted her up, his other hand growing a dark aura. "Here we go!" He pushed his hand into her body, a dark shock being emitted and Rei cried out loudly in pain.

Just as this was happening, the other made it to the top of the stairs and to the front of the Shrine.

Ami quickly pointed this scene out, "Look! It's Rei-chan!" She shouted.

"What's going on?!" USagi asked.

Mako quickly shook her head, and clenched her fist as she glared at the scene. "That doesn't matter right now! We have to save her!"

"Everyone, transform!" Minako quickly ordered.

"Moon Cosmic Power…" Usagi's Moon Cosmic Compact brooch opened and she touched the pink heart in the center.

Mako held her green transformation pen in the air, the Jupiter symbol appearing, "Jupiter Star Power…"

Minako held her orange transformation pen in the air, the Venus symbol appearing, "Venus Star Power…"

Ami held her blue transformation pen in the air, the Mercury symbol appearing. "Mercury Star Power…"

Chibiusa had a brooch similar to Usagi's and the pink heart started glowing, "Moon Prism Power…"

The girls then shouted in unision, "Make-Up!"

In a bright flash of light, the five girls had transformed into Sailors Moon, Chibi Moon, Venus, Mercury, and Jupiter.

"Aye, quiet yer screamin' lass!" O'Chunkten groaned and finally pulled out her Pure Soul, a small pink ball, and Rei suddenly went lifeless like. "Aye…a dud."

A commanding voice suddenly shouted, "Hold it right there!"

"Eh?" O'Chunkten turned at the sound of a voice.

Sailor Moon pointed her finger at O'Chunkten, glaring slightly. "No one lays a hand on my friend's and expects to get away with it!"

O'Chunkten was confused at this point. "What…?"

"The pretty suited sailor with the sailor soldiers! Sailor Moon!"

"Sailor Chibi Moon!"

"Sailor Jupiter!"

"Sailor Mercury!"

"Sailor Venus!"

Sailor Moon did a little pose before pointing at O'Chunkten "In the name of the moon, we will punish you!"

O'Chunkten groaned. " I don't have time to play around with yeh littl' lasses." He dropped Rei's body and the pure soul since he had no use for it and snapped his fingers, "Black Hawk, take care of these pest." A sharp cry roared from above, and the scouts looked up, seeing large black hawk slowly descend to the ground "Take care of all of them. Even the dead one over there." He nudged his head towards Rei and jumped into the trees.

Moon shouted at O'Chunkten as he leaped away, "Hey, come back!"

Venus turned her head at Sailor Moon, "Focus, Sailor Moon!"

Jupiter stepped up confidently, "I'll handle this!" She placed her hands together, then pulled them apart, electricity visible in the gap between her hands. She then gathered that electricity into one of her hands, "Sparkling Wide Pressure!" She flung the energy disk forward at the Black Hawk. The hawk roared and moved to the side quickly, avoiding the Sparking Wide Pressure.

"It's fast!" ChibiMoon said in amazement at the speed of the flying beast.

"Venus Love-Me Chain!" [Venus sent a golden chain forward, wrapping it around the Black Hawk's beak. "I got it!" The Black Hawk quickly flailed its beak around, attempting to get free. "H-Hey! Calm down!" With a quick whip of its beak, Black Hawk managed to fling Venus into a tree, causing her to lose consciousness.

Chibi Moon placed a hand over her mouth, "Venus!"

Moon looked down at Chibi Moon, then to Mercury, "Chibi Moon! Protect Rei-chan! Jupiter, Mercury and I will handle this!"

Chibi Moon nodded, "Right!" She ran over towards Rei, making sure if she was alright.

"Shine Aqua…Illusion!" Mercury spun around while speaking, throwing a large beam of water at the Black Hawk, making direct contact and dousing it.

Moon smiled, clapping her hands once, "Nice one Mercury!"

Jupiter turned to Sailor Moon, nodding, "Now, Sailor Moon!"

Moon nodded. turning her attention towards the Black Hawk, "Right!" She pulled out the legendary Spiral Heart Moon Rod. "Moon….Spiral…-"Before Sailor Moon could continue any farther, the Black Hawk flapped its wings violently, causing a razor sharp windstorm in the area. The wind being so sharp it was literally cutting the scouts who were in the way, also blowing back Jupiter, Mercury and Moon.

"Oh no! Sailor Moon! Jupiter! Mercury!" Chibi Moon held Rei's body close to her, but she was helpless for the Black Hawk's next move. It shrieked loudly and spread its wings, diving down at the downed Sailor Scouts.

Moon rubbed her head and turned over, looking to see that the giant hawk was growing closer. "No… " In a flash, a red streak flew past Sailor Moon, and a red rose had struck the Black Hawk in one of its wings, causing it to nose dive into the ground. Sailor Moon looked up at the gates, smiling widely, "Tuxedo Mask!"

Tuxedo Mask had his arms crossed, his cape flowing in the wind, "Stealing the soul of an innocent maiden is an act on which I cannot forgive! Sailor Moon!"

"Yes!" Moon brought out the Spiral Heart Rod once again, starting to spin around as she spoke, her rotations becoming faster and faster for every complete rotation, "Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" She stopped spinning and held the rod up, a beam of hearts heading right for the downed Black Hawk; the hawk screeched loudly as it was consumed by the attack whole and exploded into darkness, that darkness soon coming down slowly as a glimmering light

A few minutes later:

Rei groaned as she slowly came to, "Ugh….W-What happened…?" she asked, rubbing her head.

"We were planning on asking that to you! Are you okay?" USagi asked, obviously worried.

Re nodded once, "I think so…"

Minak frowned, looking down at the ground, "What was that?"

"A new enemy?" Ami proposed.

"But what where they after?" Mako asked as she tilted her head in confusion.

Mamoru shook his head, obviously lacking any ideas. "I don't know, but I think we should all be keeping our guard up from now on."

O'Chunkten had been watching the fight up until the Black Hawk was defeated, and was now standing in the middle of a darkened alley, leaning against the brick wal.] "Sailor Scouts…Tuxedo Mask…I think the Count is going to want to hear about this…"


	2. Chapter 2: Defender of Justice

In the large meeting room of Castle Dark, O'Chunkten returns, and he has some interesting news to tell.

"O'Chunkten," Count Dark began, "I see you have returned empty handed."

"Aye!" O'Chunkten shouted while waving his hands out in front of him, "It wasn't my fault, I swear, Count!"

"What happened then?" Count Dark asked, staring at O'Chunkten to make sure he wasn't making up excuses.

Mimi, who was disguised as a blonde supermodel she had seen on TV, leaned in and whispered in Dimentio's ear, "This should be good…"

"Well," O'Chunkten began, "Things were going according to plan. I got to the target, but it turned out to be a dud."

"And then?" Nastansia asked, adjusting her glasses.

"These girls in high heels and miniskirts showed up!" O'Chunkten shouted, now in disbelief himself on what he just said. Everyone in the room blinked a few times from the awkward silence.

Dimentio coughed, figuring he'd be the brave soul who spoke up, "Uhm…what?"

"Ya heard meh, lad!" O'Chunkten said, "They called themselves…uh…uhm…Sailor…Scouts? Yeah! Sailor Scouts!"

"O'Chunkten, are you being serious right now?" Mimi shook her head and sighed.

"I'm not kiddin' around! I think the leader of that group was like…uhm…Sailor…Moon! Yeah!" O'Chunkten nodded firmly.

"Sailor Scouts, huh?" Dark rubbed his chin, "Wait. Wasn't the Black Hawk more than enough to take them out?"

"The Black Hawk was doing great! It almost had them, then some rose throwin' weirdo came outta nowhere and then those girls won." O'Chunkten explained.

"I don't buy this at all," Mimi said, nodding her head firmly, "O'Chunkten should be punished for failure."

"Wait, Mimi," Count Dark said, "Perhaps O'Chunkten isn't lying…however. These girls and this rose thrower may be a bit of a problem…"

"I can create just the thing to deal with these pest before they become a problem," Nastansia suggested.

"Hm, good idea, Nastansia," Dark said, nodding, "I will have the next target for you by tomorrow, so for now, everyone should get some rest.

The next morning, in Usagi's home:

Usagi was fast asleep in her blue shirt and pajamas, snoring the minutes away. A black cat with a small crescent moon on her forehead hopped onto Usagi's bed, pushing Usagi lightly with her paw. "Usagi," the cat said, frowning a bit.

Usagi groaned, turning over, mumbling in her sleep, "Five more minutes, Luna…"Luna groaned herself, then jumped on top of Usagi, causing her to shoot awake. "WAAH!" Usagi then looked over at her clock, freaking out, "AAH! I'm gonna be late!" She quickly hopped out of bed, changing herself into her school uniform. A white shirt, a red ribbon that went over her chest with her Compact in the middle, a long blue skirt, white socks, and black shoes. She then grabbed her black case, and rushed at the door, frowning that she was unable to eat any breakfast, and she darted down the street, Luna following right beside her. "Why did you wake me up earlier!?"

Luna sighed, yelling up at Usagi, "I was trying to wake you up for an hour!"

"You should've tried harde!" Usagi picked up the pace, turning a corner; as she did, she met up with Minako and Artemis, who were also in as much of a hurry as she was. "Minako-chan, you're late too!?

"Yeah!" Minako replied, a sweatdrop appearing on her forehead, "Someone forgot to wake me up this morning!" Artemis was about to say something in reply to this, but he decided not to.

"Just don't forget the meeting after school about what happened!" Artemis yelled as he and Minako turned the corner.

"Waaah!" Usagi started to panic, realizing that there were only a few minutes left before she'd be considered late. She then started running as fast as she possibly could, making it into her classroom with about three minutes to spare. "I made it…" She panted in between words, then looked over at the crowd of students gathering around someone. "Huh…?"

"Usagi-chan!" Usagi's light brown haired friend, Naru said cheerfully, "Good morning! You made it on time!"

Usagi nodded, smiling at her achievement, "Yeah! Hey…Naru-chan…what's going on over there?" She pointed at the crowd of students gathering around a person.

"Oh, didn't you hear?" Naru started, "That's the new student!"

"New student?" Usagi tilted her head in confusion.

"Yeah! He's from Fre-fer…ah..uhmm…he's from this village that is responsible from creating the constellations in the night sky we see in the stars! Apparently he made one a few years ago and everyone's just been /dying/ to see it!"

"Have you seen it?"

"No, not yet, but, I will soon, I bet! Oh hey, Usagi-chan, would you like to go shopping later tonight? You can invite your other friends too, if you want."

Usagi nodded happily, "I'd love too!" Just then, the school bell rang and everyone sat down, and Usagi had to brace herself for a boring day at school. To make matters worse for her, she had forgotten about the test that she was about to take. She groaned and slumped into her seat.

After class was over, everyone received their test back and Usagi gripped her paper by the sides, grinning widely. "I…I got a 100!" She jumped for joy, hugging her paper tightly.

"Ahem…" A brown haired male with brown eyes coughed slightly, pointing his finger at her paper, "You might wanna move your hands…"

"Huh?" Usagi moved her hands, frowning at the real score she got, "I got a 10…"

"You know," the male started, "I don't think you're gonna get outta middle school with those kinda grades…" the male coughed slightly.

Usagi glared, huffing as she turned her head to look at this male, "Oh yeah?" She started, "And what did YOU get, huh?"

"Oi, well," the male started, "Not a perfect score, but, I did score high enough to where I know I'll be alright."

"Hmph," Usagi crossed her arms, then blinked, realizing that she's never seen this male before. "Uh…who are you?"

"Hm, oh? I guess I never did introduce myself. The name's Marcus." Marcus smiled, nodding, "You are?"

"Usagi Tsukino!" Usagi grinned, then blinked, "Wait…don't you have a last name?"

"I prefer not to use it," Marcus said.

"Wait!" Usagi just remembered something, "Don't you have that…star…thingy?"

Marcus chuckled slightly, "You mean my constellation?"

"Yeah!"

"Heh, hold on, I'll show it to ya. I just gotta find it…" Marcus started digging through his bookbag; as Marcus was doing that, Mako and Ami walked in the classroom.

"Usagi-chan, we have to get going," Ami said calmly.

"In a second! Marcus is about to show me something!" Usagi nodded a few times, staring at Marcus's bag.

"Who…?" Mako asked, tilting her head.

Marcus looked up from the sound of unfamiliar voices, waving slightly at Ami and Mako, "Uh, yeah, hi," he said before continuing to dig in his bookbag, pulling out a slip of paper a moment later, and held it out, "Here we are!" The girls then crowded around the picture, their eyes widening in awe as they looked at the constellation of a crescent moon.

"Whoa…!" Usagi was in amazement.

"You made this?" Ami asked, clearly impressed.

"That's right," Marcus nodded, smirking before folding the paper back up after a few minutes and stuck it back inside his bag.

"Wow…That's amazing," Mako said. She then shook her head, "Usagi-chan, we have to get going, remember?"

"Oh right! I'll see you around, Marcus!" She smiled and waved before exiting with Mako and Ami.

Marcus waved back slightly before sighing, "Good grief…I thought they'd never leave…I'm so gonna get yelled at for calling late…Nice girls though…"

After school, Usagi, Chibiusa, Mako, Ami, Rei, Minako, and Mamoru all met up at Hikawa Shrine once again, this time for a serious meeting, instead of a study session; Rei explained what happened to her to Luna and Artemis, in detail, so anyone might come up with an idea. After the story was finished, the two cats looked at each other.

"Pure Soul…?" Artemis said slowly, a puzzled look appearing on his face.

"What is a "Pure Soul" anyway?" Rei asked, crossing her arms.

"Well," Luna started, "As the name implies, it's a person's soul."

Rei's eyes widened, "Wait! So you're saying that creep took my soul!?"

Luna nodded slowly, "That's right…"

"But…why would that big ugly guy do that?" Chibiusa asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"That, I'm not sure…" Luna said, hanging her head slightly, "But, what I do know is, if a soul is removed from a person, they die." Everyone went into shock.

"Y-You mean I…" Rei froze, trailing off.

"They must be after a certain kind of soul then," Mamoru nodded firmly, leaning against the wall, "And whoever has what they're looking for, will surely die…"

"What are we going to do…?" Minako asked softly.

"We're going to do some research," Artemis replied, "Until then, you girls take it easy."

"WAAAAH!" Usagi suddenly shouted out, causing everyone to jump.

"What's wrong, Meatball head!?" Chibiusa asked quickly.

"I just remembered, Naru-chan invited us all for shopping in a little bit!" Usagi had clearly overreacted, and she was receiving some glares from everyone but Mamoru, who choose to avert his eyes from the current situation.

"…Well, I guess we were done here anyway…" Mako said; the idea of shopping sounding good in her head.

"Let's go then!" Minako hopped up, and ran out the Shrine quickly…before coming back a few seconds later, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head, "Uh…lead the way, Usagi-chan. Ahehe…"

The girls' meeting took up a majority of the afternoon, and it was starting to get dark. Luckily, Naru had suggested they wait a little bit before heading out. The streets were somewhat empty, the occasion person walking by every few minutes. Naru was walking down a sidewalk towards a clothing store that was near closing time. She sighed softly, not surprised that Usagi was running late. However, she was a bit surprised by the large hefty man slowly making his way over to her. "Can I help you?" Naru asked this stranger.

"Ah, yes you can, lass," O'Chunkten smirked slightly.

The girls were walking down the street, taking their time as they were engaged in amusing conversation. Usagi and Rei somehow managed to tick each other of, as usual, and quickly started arguing. The other girls sighed and looked ahead. Everything came to a sudden halt as they heard a loud scream of pain coming from not too far away.

"W-What was that?!" Minako asked. Shortly after she asked that the girls quickly ran towards the source of the scream, stopping dead in their tracks once they saw O'Chunkten sticking his hand into Naru's chest.

"N-Naru-chan!" Usagi covered her mouth as she shouted, she then opened up her Moon Comic Compact, using her finger to touch the bejeweled heart, causing it to glow, "Moon Cosmic Power…" the other girls quickly followed suit, holding their transformation pens in the air, shouting, "Make-Up!" simultaneously.

O'Chunkten just finished pulling out Naru's Pure Soul, only to frown once again once he found that it was a pink sphere, "Dammit…"

"Hold it right there!" Sailor Moon commanded.

O'Chunkten turned, letting the Pure Soul go back into Naru's body and he smirked, "Oh, it's you lasses again. I was wondering when you'd show up."

"He was waiting for us…?" Jupiter mumbled.

O'Chunkten snapped his fingers, a Black Bull with several tails appearing, "Black Bull, clean up this mess, alright?" O'Chunkten smirked, disappearing into thin air. The Black Bull immediately caught sight of Sailor Mars' red fuku and charged towards her.

Mars groaned, her mouth opening slightly and her eye was twitching, "This isn't my week…" She then traced her finger in a circle, flames appearing over where she traced and she held her hands out, "Burning Mandala!" Several rings of fire shot out towards the Black Bull, but to everyone's surprise, the Black Bull used its tails to catch the rings of fire. "M-My Burning Mandala!" Mars was in shock, and she froze in place.

"Watch out, Mars!" Jupiter tackled Mars to the ground as the Black Bull sent all the rings back, the rings whizzing over Mars and Jupiter's heads.

Venus extended an arm, resting her other hand on her arm as she pointed a finger out, "Crescent Beam!" A yellow beam shot out from Venus' finger towards the Black Bull, but the Black Bull deflected it with its tails, then jumped in the air, landing down which creating a shockwave that knocked the girls off their feet.

"Doesn't this thing have a weakness?!" ChibiMoon asked, attempting to get back on her feet.

"Hold on!" Mercury's goggles appeared, and she was about to scan the Black Bull, but before she could do so, the Black Bull wrapped all but one of its tails around the Sailor Scouts' necks, quickly adding pressuring.

"I-It's choking…us!" Sailor Moon could barely get a word out as she attempted to pry the tail from around her neck. Before this continued for much longer, a red rose struck the Black Bull on its forehead, causing the Black Bull's grip to loosen just a bit. The girls looked up at a street light, smiling.

"Tuxedo Mask!" ChibiMoon shouted happily.

Tuexdo Mask pulled out his black cane, then leaped down from the street light swinging his cane at the Black Bull; he was about to start another speech like the day before, but he missed as the Black Bull jumped back, the wrapped its last tail around him, starting to constrict all of the Scouts and Tuxedo Mask quickly. "W-What…!? S-Sailor Moon! You must…get out of here!"

"W-We can't….! It's too tight! I can't…breathe…" Sailor Moon's eyelids, along with everyone else's, started to close slowly as their hands slowly fell to their sides. Then, as if by some miracle, a blue streak of light whizzed past all of the Black Bull's tails, cutting them off and the group of seven fell to the ground, gasping for air.

"W-What was that?!" Mars looked around, then spotted a blue rose on the ground, "What the…?"

"Up there!" ChibiMoon pointed, a figure with a cape blowing in the wind standing on a telephone pole. The figure jumped down, and to everyone's surprise, this mysterious figure looked just like Tuxedo Mask, only the outfit was blue, and the hat was rounded and flat, with a yellow feather sticking out.

The masked man shook his head at the Black Bull, who was enraged at this point, "You know," the man started, "Usually I would be against things like seven against one, but in this case, I think it's a little unfair for you guys," he said towards the Scouts. "So, you can just sit back, and let the defender of justice, the Masked Crusader, take care of this!"

"Masked Crusader…?" Venus tilted her head, not having the slightest clue as to who this person was.

Masked Crusader stuck his cape out, making sure the redness on the inside was showing, "Come to me, bull, let us dance," The Black Bull immediately charged forward, but Masked Crusader quickly moved away, allowing the Black Bull to crash into the brick wall Crusader's cape was hiding. Crusader then turned to Sailor Moon, pointing at the dazed Bull, "I think now would be as good a time as any, ya know?"

Sailor Moon nodded slowly, still unsure of what just happened, but she pulled out her Moon Spiral Heart Rod, and began twirling around, "Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" She came to a sudden halt, holding the Rod up as a flurry of hearts shot out, striking the Black Bull, and turning it into a ball of light before disappearing. Sailor Moon turned to look at Masked Crusader, but he had vanished. "Who was that…?" She then shook her head and went over to Naru, checking to see if she was okay.

On the roof of a building nearby, Masked Crusader sighed lightly, taking off his mask. "Oi," Marcus said, rubbing his forehead, "Those girls were really unprepared for that…" Just then, the watch on his wrist started going off. "Hello?"

"How'd it go?" A voice said through the communicator.

"It went…well…for me, to say the least. Had to help Sailor Moon and her friends out of a jam…And a Pure Soul didn't show up either…" Marcus replied.

"I see…are they on our side?" The voice asked curiously.

"Depends on what you mean. I don't think they really know what's going on here." Marcus said.

"I see…"

"Instead of having me scout around, how about you come over here yourself. Things might be less complicated that way," Marcus nodded after he spoke.

"You're right. I'll tell the others and we'll be there as soon as we can. You've had a long day, go home, and get some rest."

"No need to tell me twice…I'll see you later." He put his mask back on and hopped from building to building."

On a building on the opposite side of where Marcus was, another figure was peering down at the sight, sighing, "That wasn't a Pure Soul either…Where could they be hiding…? It doesn't look like one is appearing tonight," He eyed the Sailor scouts, "I'll have to keep an eye on those Sailor Scouts…they seem to be around whenever a Pure Soul is seemingly located…"


	3. Chapter 3: New Sailor Scouts!

In the midst of Castle Dark, O'Chunkten made his appearance, empty handed, once again, much to the disappointment of Count Dark and the others.

"O'Chunkten," Count Dark began, "I see you have returned emptied handed once again…"

"Aye, the target wasn't a holder of a Pure Soul!" O'Chunkten protested.

"So, you're 0 for 2 now," Mimi sighed, disguised as a girl she had seen on TV recently.

"What about those Sailor Scouts?" Count Dark asked, "Did the Black Bull destroy them?"

"Yeah! I think it did!" O'Chunkten replied excitedly.

"You THINK or you KNOW?" Nastansia asked, adjusting her red glasses.

"I think…" O'Chunkten replied, rubbing the back of his head while he looked down at the ground.

"My, my, O'Chunkten," Dimentio started in a taunting tone, "You've been slipping up lately, haven't you?"

O'Chunkten shot a glare at Dimentio, "Hush lad!"

Mimi giggled slightly, "If /I/ were the one collecting Pure Souls, I wouldn't let anything stop me!"

"You'll get your time, Mimi," Dark said, "As will Dimentio."

"Aye…I'm pretty sure those Sailor Scouts are dead though!" O'Chunkten said confidently.

"Don't drop your guard," Dark replied, "They may still be alive."

"Sir," Nastansia chimed in, "Do you have any more information concerning the next target?"

"Yes, I do," Dark chucked a picture towards O'Chunkten, "I believe this is something the humans call a…Librarian."

"Librarian?" O'Chunkten asked, a puzzled look appearing over his face, "The hell is that!?"

"You're such an idiot…" Mimi sighed.

"Oh yeah, if you're so smart, tell me what it is!" O'Chunkten replied.

"…Ask around, duh…" Mimi casually brushed off her shoulders and yawned, "You just went out though, so you might wanna wait."

"Mimi raises a point," Dimentio said, nodding, "Indeed."

"Aye, I guess I'll go out tomorrow then," O'Chunkten said, nodding.

Juuban Middleschool:

School was over, classes had ended, and now everyone was swarming in the hallways to see the results of the exam they had taken.

"These teachers grade fast…" Mako mumbled before smiling widely at her result, "I got an 85!" Mako said happily, jumping for joy once, then she turned to Usagi, "What did you get, Usagi-chan?"

Usagi nervously waved her hands, "O-Oh…it doesn't matter…It's not like I got a 15 or anything…hahahaha…Uh…how about you, Ami-chan?"

Ami was frowning heavily, and she sighed deeply before mumbling, "I got a 99…"

"A 99?" Mako repeated, "That's great!"

"No it's not!" Ami practically yelled, her panic starting to show, "What if my grades slip to this level!? What if I'm not able to get into medical school because of this!?"

"Ami-chan!" Usagi said, placing her hands on Ami's shoulders and shook her a bit, "You'll be FINE!"

"Yeah," Mako chimed in, "Everyone had trouble with these exams, so don't feel so down."

"Not that person…" Ami sighed, pointing over to a crowd of people surrounding someone.

"Another new student?" Usagi asked.

"But why would someone enroll in a school during an exam day?" Ami questioned, "How could you possibly know the material?"

Marcus then appeared, attempting to shoo off the crowd of amazed students, "Alright, alright, that's enough. Anna's just a normal student like everyone else, if you're wondering how she got what she got, simple. She studied." The students groaned and dispersed. When the crowd was gone, a tall girl, not as tall as Mako, was revealed. The girl had black hair and green eyes, she was rather attractive, and her left cheek showed a dimple when she smiled.

"Thanks Marcus," Anna said, smiling slightly.

"Not a problem," Marcus replied.

Usagi, Mako, and Ami walked up to the two, and Usagi poked Marcus' shoulder, "You know this girl?"

"Yeah," Marcus nodded, "This is Anna Kyo. She's one of the three new students who enrolled here."

"Nice to meet you!" Anna exclaimed, smiling brightly at the three.

"Nice to meet you too! My name is Usagi Tsukino, and these are my friends, Ami Mizuno and Makoto Kino!" Usagi replied, "Wait, there's more?"

"Yeah," Marcus said, "Grace Hikari and Kate Hibiki. They're sisters, and should be around here somewhere…" Marcus mumbled the last part, looking around the hallways slowly.

"Anna?" Ami asked.

"Yeah?" Anna replied.

"Why were all those students surrounding you?" Ami asked, shuffling a bit awkwardly.

"Oh, that's because I scored a 100 on that exam," Anna replied, smiling proudly at herself.

"A-A perfect score!?" Ami asked, her eyes widening slightly.

"Oh, it's not a big deal," Anna replied, waving a hand.

"Heeeeeyyyyyy guyssssssss~!" the girly voice caused the group to turn around. Two girls were walking over to the group, grinning.

"Here they are!" Marcus said, grinning himself, "Grace and Kate!" Grace had long brown hair with a hint of blonde to it, blue eyes and was only shorter than Anna out of the three; Kate had short blonde hair, also blue eyes, and happened to be the shortest out of the three, only being barley taller than Usagi.

"Sorry we're late," Grace said, "This one here almost gave us detention," She nudged her head at Kate.

"SORRRRRY," Kate said in a monotonous voice, "Hey, who are these guys?"

"I'm Usagi Tsukino!"

"Makoto Kino."

"Ami Mizuno."

"Nice to meet you!" Grace and Kate said in a sisterly way in unison.

"Hey, Usagi-chan," Ami whispered, "We don't wanna be late…and I have to get by the library before it closes too…"

"Hai," Usagi nodded, then turned to the group of four, "Well, it was nice meeting you! We have to get going now, but I hope we can see you soon!" Usagi waved to the group of four as she left with Mako and Ami.

"Oi, took you long enough to get here," Marcus said, "I thought I was gonna have to do the heavy lifting for a few more days…"

"Yeah, yeah," Grace replied, waving a hand.

"You might wanna take a look around the city," Marcus suggested, "Get to know your way around."

"Aren't you coming to show us around?" Kate asked.

"Busy…with…you know…things…" Marcus replied, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

"Sounds good to me," Anna said with a grin, "Let's give ourselves a tour~."

"Don't get side tracked shopping…" Marcus muttered.

At Usagi's house, Usagi, Chibiusa, Luna, Mamoru, Ami, Mako, and Rei were sitting in the living room, patiently waiting for Minako and Artemis.

"Ugh, when are they gonna get here?" Rei asked, tapping her foot on the floor impatiently. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it!" Chibiusa said happily, skipping over to the door and opening it, revealing Minako and Artemis.

"Sorry we're late!" Artemis said, walking inside with Minako, "This one here got sidetracked with a few boys…"

"Hmph…" Minako crossed her arms and huffed, walking inside.

"Took you long enough," Rei commented.

"Now that everyone's here," Luna began, "we can finally begin to discuss what I think this new enemy may be after."

"What is it?" Usagi asked, tilting her head.

"Artemis and I have done a little more research unto this matter of the Pure Souls," Luna started, "It appears that there are eight special colors of Pure Souls."

"Special colors?" Ami asked, rubbing her chin slightly.

"Red, Blue, Green, Purple, White, Yellow, and the most important two, the Gold and Dark Souls," Luna nodded as she finished the list.

"Dark…Gold?" Mako repeated, "Are they the most powerful or something?"

"We're not sure yet," Artemis chimed in, "But, if the enemy somehow manages to collect all of these souls, it won't be good…"

"But…wait…" Minako interrupted, "Didn't you say that if a soul is removed…that person dies…?"

After Minako's comment, things were silent for a bit, but Rei shook her head lightly, "I don't think they care about that…We can't just let them take away people's souls…but we can't let those people keep their souls either…they'll always be a target…" Her comment didn't help the silence, but it was one of those things that everyone needed to hear, but not what they wanted to hear, especially for idealist such as Usagi.

"There has to be a way…" Usagi mumbled.

"Hey guys…" Mako started, "I just remembered…does anyone know who that guy was?"

"Which guy?" Mamoru asked.

"That Masked Crusader guy!" Mako replied.

"Masked who?" Luna asked, tilting her head.

"This guy who looked exactly like Mamo-chan when he's Tuxedo Mask!" Chibiusa shouted, flailing her arms around.

"What…?!" The two cats were confused. They hadn't heard about someone like this before.

"He seemed experienced too," Mamoru said while crossing his arms, "I'm not sure who's side he's on…but I'm sure we'll want to keep a careful eye on him…"

"There's no way all of this could be a coincidence either…" Ami mumbled under her breath. Just then, she remembered something and she shot up, "Oh no, the library!"

"What's wrong, Ami-chan?!" Rei asked, a worried look on her face.

"I forgot to return these books! And it's almost closing time!" Ami said, starting to panic.

"Oh…" Rei sighed, shaking her head lightly.

"I guess we're done here then," Mamoru said, "I have something I need to take care of, but you all stay safe, alright?" The girls nodded and he kissed Usagi's cheek before leaving.

"I have to get going to the library…" Ami said, quickly picking up her bag.

"Hey wait!" Mako quickly jumped up, "How about we all go together?" If the enemy happens to attack either you or us, it wouldn't end well, and there's strength in numbers, right?"

Ami nodded, "of course, Mako-chan."

At the library, Marcus, Grace, Anna, and Kate were all sitting at a table, having some kind of discussion. They were too into their conversation to notice O'Chunkten, who was bumbling around, lost in the building.

"And that's basically the entire rundown of what happened last night," Marcus said, nodding.

"Sounds like they had a rough time, and you an easy one," Kate replied.

"Oh yeah, it was a breeze," Marcus smirked, rubbing the bottom of his nose with his finger, "But, I think we should keep an eye on them, you know? Just in case things happen to go south?"

"I understand," Grace said.

"Hey guys," Anna chimed in, looking around at the lack of people in the building, "It's almost closing time, should we continue this later?"

"Oi…it is late…" Grace said, a bit surprised that time went away so quickly, "Yeah," she said, standing up along with the others, "Let's go home, and finish this another time." The four walked out of the building, passing Usagi, and her friends on the way out, giving them a slight wave before exiting.

Minako, Chibiusa, and Rei tilting their heads in confusion, "Who were those guys?" Minako asked.

"Oh, just a few new people we met in school yesterday and today," Usagi said, smiling lightly.

In the back of the library, O'Chunkten was constantly glancing at the picture of the target he and been giving, looking up to see where he was going, but it wasn't too effective as he kept getting lost, "Aye, I hate this place already," he muttered, accidently bumping into someone.

"H-hey!" O'Chunkten had bumped into a woman with blonde hair, her hair tied up in a bun and she was wearing what you would normally expect to see on a female Liberian."

"Oh, terribly sorry la-" O'Chunkten started his apology, then looked at the picture he had been given, then back at the woman, giving a smirk, "Found ya."

Ami casually placed the books she had borrowed into the return slot, and grinned slightly, "All finished!"

"Great!" Chibiusa began, "Now let's get out of here! This place is putting me to sleep…" She yawned slightly, but a sharp scream quickly put her on her toes, "W-What was that!?" The girls ran to the source of the scream, peering behind a shelf and spotted O'Chunkten.

"It's him again!" Mako mumbled.

"Girls, let's go!" Rei shouted.

O'Chunkten pried the soul out of the woman's chest, frowning heavily as he only pulled out a pink sphere, "Are you kidding me?!" O'Chunkten groaned, "Lousy…"

"Hold it right there!" Sailor Moon commanded.

"Oh you can't be serious…" O'Chunkten dropped the body, letting the soul fall back into the woman's body as he turned to the Sailor Scouts, "You lasses AGAIN?! Can't you take a break or something!?"

"We won't rest until we stop you and your evil plans!" Venus shouted.

"Aye…just when I thought the Black Bull got rid of ya…" He sighed, "Well, I suppose it's time I introduced myself! The name's O'Chunkten, strongest minion to Count Dark!"

"Huh..." Mercury tapped her chin at the unfamiliar name, "Who is Count Dark?"

"You're gonna have to live without knowing who he is," O'Chunkten replied, smirking deviously, "Because you're all gonna die tonight!" He snapped his fingers, "Black Armor, teach these girls a lesson!" A dark hole opened up, and a large black knight's armor spawned from the hole, holding a black sword and a black shield. "I'm gonna make sure you all die tonight!"

"EYAH!" Sailor Moon backed away a little at the sight of the black sword, "IT'S HUGE!"

"Stay on your toes, everyone!" Mars cautioned.

Jupiter, smirked, placing her hands together, "You know what they say," she gathered electricity in the palm of her hand, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall!" She hurled the Sparking Wide Pressure at the Black Armor, but the energy disc merely dissipated once it hit the Armor, having no effect, "W-What!?"

O'Chunkten laughed a hardy laugh, "Oh, I'm afraid that's not goin' ta work lasses!" The Black Armor then brought its sword down, causing the girls to jump away from each other, crashing into some of the shelves. "Oh ho! Did that hurt?"

"Shut up!" Venus summoned her Venus Love me Chain, wrapping it around the Armor's sword, attempting to tug it away from it, but she was having a hard time doing so, "S-Stop struggling!" Before she could yank the sword away, the Armor tugged on the chain, pulling Venus forward, then used its shield to knock her away, causing her to hit the wall and fall over, "Ugh…"

"Don't let up!" O'Chunkten laughed once again as the Armor slammed a foot on the ground, knocking over the Scouts who were still on their feet.

"W-What do we do!?" Sailor Moon was panicking, quickly running out of ideas.

"You die," O'Chunkten replied, smirking at his soon to be victory.

"Hold it right there, vile villain!" A voice said from the entrance.

"What the!?" O'Chunkten turned towards the front door, spotting three familiarly dressed figures, "Who the?!"

Three girls were standing at the entrance to the library "We cannot allow such vile acts to go without punishment! Attacking innocent ladies is an unforgivable act! Pretty suited sailors with my sailor senshi! Sailor X!" When she stepped up, her outfit was just of that as the Sailor Scouts, but hers was Purple. She was tall, almost as tall as Jupiter, had black hair and green eyes.

"Sailor Y!" She was the shortest of the three, having short blonde hair and blue eyes. Her outfit was gray.

"And the leader of the three, Sailor Z!" She was in-between Sailors X and Y in height, had long brown hair, and her outfit was Yellow "In the name of the stars, we will punish you!"

"Oh you've gotta be kiddin' me!? MORE of you Scouts?!" O'Chunkten was in disbelief, how could there be more than six!?

"M-More Sailor Scouts..!?" Sailor Moon and the others were just as surprised as O'Chunkten was, and they had no idea who these girls were.

"Black Armor, get rid of them!" O'Chunkten yelled in frustration as he pointed his finger forward.

The Armor then raised its sword over its head, preparing to bring it down on the set of three scouts, "Not so fast!" Sailor Y yelled out. She opened one of her palms, a transparent ball of something forming, "Gravity Ball!" The transparent ball flew forward, hitting the sword the Armor was carrying, reducing the gravity on it and caused the sword to fly into the air.

"W-WHOA!" Chibi Moon was in amazement, she had never seen someone control gravity so easily.

Sailor X was next. She pointed her finger forward, a small meteorite appearing and quickly increasing in size, "Meteor Crash!" She fired the meteor forward, making direct contact with the Black Armor who tried to use its shield, causing it to stumble back and hit the ground.

"What the?!" O'Chunkten had to jump away from the falling suit of armor, completely amazed and in shock that it was being dealt with so easily.

"My turn!" Sailor Z stepped up, smirking. She pointed a hand out, a large white star beginning to form in her hand, "Star….Cannon!" She fired off the Star Cannon, the large white star instantly making contact with the Black Armor, but it seemed to have no effect.

"It didn't work…!" Mars croaked.

"Huh…Guess I was worried fer nothin'…" O'Chunkten sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Ah ah ah…." Sailor Z remarked, waving one of her fingers tauntingly, "Something with a hard exterior usually has a very soft interior," She smirked as she saw rays of white light emitting from the inside of the Armor, which eventually caused it to explode into light a few seconds later.

"No way!" Jupiter commented with her jaw wide open.

"They took it out in less than two minutes…!" Venus remarked, rubbing her head."

"I didn't plan for this…! Ack!" Without wasting another moment, O'Chunkten vanished.

"Whoa…" Sailor Moon shook her head, looking up at the trio of X Y and Z, "How did you guys do that…? We were having such a hard time and yet you guys came in and beat it quickly…"

"That's because you guys are weak," Sailor Z said, with a bit of attitude.

"Excuse me!?" Mars' hotheaded nature was easily brought into this by Z's remark.

"You heard her," Sailor Y stepped, in, giving a slight look of disappointment to the Inner Senshi.

"Who are you to give us attitude!?" Mars yelled at Y and Z, standing up to get in their faces, but Venus held her back, and all she did was glare.

"We're the ones who saved your hides," Sailor X said, sighing while crossing her arms and shaking her heads. "We didn't even get a thank you, not that we wanted one anyway. We didn't come to save you; we just couldn't allow something like that to roam this area."

"There's no need for attitude," Jupiter remarked, unable to help but return the look of disappointment with a look of anger.

"We haven't even been here for long and we're already protecting your city better than you," Sailor Z said, shaking her head, then she turned her back to the Scouts and looked over her shoulder, "You should really do some training or something, don't rely on us to save your hides again," as she said that, she, X, and Y walked out.

"Who do those guys think they are!?" Mars shouted, letting out a frustrated groan.

On a building near the library, the same figure from before had been watching, but they groaned, "Ugh…a Pure Soul wasn't there either…where are they hiding…"


	4. Chapter 4: X, Y, and Z, Friend or Foes?

"O'Chunkten…" Count Dark said slowly, in an upset manner. "Empty handed once more…?"

"Wow," Mimi, who was still disguised, said, shaking her said slightly, "You are really slipping up, O'Chunkten."

"A-Aye!" O'Chunkten flailed his hands around as an attempt to protect himself. "I-It wasn't my fault!"

"That's what you've been saying for the last two days now," Nastansia remarked, fixing her glasses.

"That's because stuff keeps happenin'!" O'Chunkten replied defensively.

"What happened THIS time then?" Dimentio asked, eager to hear what O'Chunkten had to say for himself.

"The Black Armor was doing just fine!" O'Chunkten started.

"As always," Mimi mumbled under her breath sarcastically.

"Then, outta da blue, three more of those Sailor Scouts showed up!" O'Chunkten continued.

"Wait, slow down here…" Nastansia said, "Three more? I thought there were only those six you told us about, and those two rose throwing guys?"

"That's what I thought too!" O'Chunkten flailed, "But they go by X, Y, and Z!"

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Dimention sighed.

"It may be stupid; lad, but they made quick work of that armor!" O'Chunkten retorted, actually sounding impressed by the trio's work.

"You're not actually impressed by this, are you?" Count Dark asked, tilting his head up to look out O'Chunkten.

"N-No! No, Count!" O'Chunkten started sweating nervously.

"Hmmmm…I suppose this won't be as easy as I originally thought…" Dark muttered.

A few days later over at Juuban Park, the girls had a meeting in the afternoon, the sky was painted blue, and there were only but a few clouds hovering in the sky.

"X…? Y…? Z…?" Luna muttered those words quietly to herself, trying to see if they rang any distant bells.

"Do they sound familiar at all?" Minako asked, tilting her head.

"No, they don't," Luna responded, "I don't remember any mention of X Y or Z in the Moon Kingdom…"

"So they aren't affiliated with the Moon Kingdom then? " Ami asked.

"They can't be," Artemis replied, shaking his head multiple times, "That's impossible."

"So…who are they?!" Usagi asked; the confusion so great it caused her to tug at her buns.

"I have no idea," Luna replied, lowering her head.

"We'll just have to be a bit more careful then…" Rei said, clenching her fist. "I still can't believe that girl had the /nerve/ to say that to us…"

"What did she said?" Artemis looked up at Rei, noting that she was obviously upset about something.

"She called us weak…" Rei grumbled, her fist tightening and shaking.

"Don't pay it any mind, Rei-chan," Mako said, attempting to calm her friend down, "We know we're strong, they're just on their high horse because they defeated one of those enemies creations…"

"We'll show them!" Chibiusa clapped her hands once and nodded.

"I guess you're right…" Rei sighed, "But still…" The current conversation was interrupted by a familiar, "Hiiiiii!" The girls turned, spotting Grace and Kate, the pair of sisters who had just enrolled into their school. Grace had her hair tied into a ponytail, matching blue shirt and shorts, and black shoes to top it off; Kate was wearing the more feminine outfit her hair short hair was down, and she was wearing a white shirt, a blue skirt, and flat shoes.

"Hi Grace! Hi Kate!" Usagi waved to the two girls coming their way.

"Helllooo!" Kate said in a cheery, upbeat voice. She then looked over at Rei, Chibiusa, and Minako, tilting her head slightly as she's never officially met them. "Who are they?"

"Oh!" Ami exclaimed, "These are our friends. They don't go to our school, so it's no surprise you haven't met them."

"I'm Minako Aino!" Minako said with a bright smile.

"Rei Hino," Rei said, bowing her head slightly.

"You can call me Chibiusa!" Chibiusa nodded, grinning widely.

"Grace Hikari!" Grace nodded, smiling.

"Kate Hibiki!" Kate also nodded. She then turned her head to Luna and Artemis, "DAAAAWW! Are those your cats?!"

Minako nodded, "Hai, Artemis is my cat," she pointed over to Artemis.

"And Luna is my chor-, I mean pet." Usagi waved her hand nervously; avoiding Luna's eyesight, as she knew her comment ticked Luna off.

"Well, it's nice to meet your friends and your cats!" Grace kept the smile on her face.

"Where's Anna?" Mako asked, tilting her head slightly, "And Marcus?"

"Oh, Anna's sick, and Marcus is helping to take care of her," Kate replied.

"She's sick?" Minako asked, a hint of excitement building in her voice.

Kate raised an eyebrow, a bit confused at Minako's voice, "Yeah…?"

"Perhaps Nurse-!"

"Oh no, that won't be needed!" Usagi interrupted quickly, clamping her hand over Minako's mouth. Minako glared up at Usagi while making muffled noises.

"So…uh…" Mako was quickly looking for a way to change the current topic.

"What brings you guys here to the park?" Chibiusa asked, genuinely curious.

"Oh!" Grace grinned, "There's an artist here! He's just painting portraits of people for fun!"

"Where is he?" Ami asked.

Grace pointed southwest, "Over there," he should be there for a little while longer, so I'm pretty sure you guys have time if you want to go over and get a painting.

"Oh, that sounds great!" Usagi exclaimed, "You girls wanna go?" The girls nodded, smiling.

"Well, it was great seeing you guys," Grace started, smiling and nodding once, "Kate and I have to get going now, but we'll see you guys at school on Monday!" She and Kate then took their exit. Luna eyed the two girls carefully as they left, a faint feeling coming over her, but she was unable to describe this feeling, and barely even feel it to be honest, so she just shook her head.

"Nice girls," she remarked.

"Mhm!" Mako nodded. After that, the girls went over to the aspiring artist. He was wearing a red hat, a white apron over his red shirt, and blue pants. Everything he was wearing was stained with a rainbow of colors, including his face.

"Hello ladies!" The artist said with a grin, excited at the potential of more work, "Are you here to get your picture painted?" he asked.

"That's right!" The girls all nodded.

"Alright, get in a position and hold still," the artist replied, readying his paintbrushes and clear canvas.

About 20 minutes later, Mako was the one holding the canvas in her arms as the group was walking back. "I can't believe he was nice enough to let us have it!" She exclaimed, eying the portrait happily along with the others.

"Me too! And he's such a good artist!" Usagi nodded, "Right, Chibiusa?" She turned her head to smile at Chibiusa, but Chibiusa wasn't there, "AH!"

"Where'd she go!?" Ami asked, looking around frantically.

"We lost her?!" Rei asked, her eyes widening.

"We have to find her!" Usagi shouted.

"Let's split up!" Minako suggested.

"Right!"

Chibiusa wasn't that lost. She knew her way around the park, but she was looking for the girls who were looking for her. "I hope Meatball Brain doesn't get lost looking for me…," she muttered. She wandered around the park for about five minutes before nearing a tree. She found that she was near the artist, who was just cleaning up. "Oh! Maybe he can help me!" She said with a smile. She was going to take a step forward, but she saw O'Chunkten approach the artist, starting to engage in some small talk. "I-It's that guy…!" Chibiusa had to do something, she held up her small compact, a pink light slowly glowing, "Moon Prism Power…Make-Up!"

"Alright, well, enough of that," O'Chunkten's voice was just plain and business casual as he lifted the artist by his collar, his hand starting to gain a dark aura.

"Hold it right there!" Chibi Moon commanded.

"What the…?" O'Chunkten turned around slightly, spotting Sailor Chibi Moon. "PFFFT AHAHA! IT'S THE SQUIRT!"

"HEY!" Chibi Moon huffed angrily. "An artist's work comes from the soul, and that's something you shouldn't take away!"

"Don't bore me with this silly dribble again…I beg ya…" O'Chunkten groaned.

Suddenly, a more mature voice cut in, "The Pretty suited soldier with the sailor senshi! Sailor Moon!"

"Took you long enough…" Chibi Moon whispered, "And Sailor Chibi Moon!"

"In the name of the moon, we will punish you!"

"Aye, you girls are persistent, aren't 'cha?" O'Chunkten sighed. He then used his free hand to snap his fingers, "Dark Artist, show them what for." After he snapped his fingers, a black hole appeared before morphing into a black humanoid person with a paint brush and canvas; O'Chunkten used this time to stick his hand into the Artist, causing him to scream out in pain."

"Hey, cut it out!" Sailor Moon shouted in a commanding tone; she and Chibimoon went to run towards the two, but the Dark Artist had painted a large arrow on its canvas, and the arrow shot out towards the pair of scouts, causing them to hit the deck. "W-WAAAH! WHAT WAS THAT!?"

O'Chunkten pried his hand out of the Artist's chest, causing the artist to go into a lifeless like state. O'Chunkten frowned when all he managed to do was pull out a pink sphere. "Blast it!" He placed the sphere back into the artist's body and threw the artist at the nearby tree. "Dark Artist, finish them off." He then teleported away.

"Hey, come back here!" Chibi Moon demanded, shaking her fist into the open air.

"Chibi Moon, look out!" Sailor Moon noticed that the Dark Artist had drawn a cannonball being fired from a cannon, so she quickly dove, grabbing Chibi Moon and rolled out of the way as the cannon ball crashed into, and destroyed a nearby tree. "WAH!"

"T-TOO CLOSE!" Chibi Moon yelped, breathing heavily. However, once again, the girls had no time to react as the Artist had drawn yet another cannon ball, but this time it was angled so it would crash down on the girls.

"L-Look out!" Sailor Moon shoved Chibi Moon away as she closed her eyes, ready for the impact of the falling cannon ball.

"Gravity Bomb!" A clear transparent ball of gravity hit the falling cannon ball, suspending it in midair.

"H-huh?" Sailor Moon looked over, spotting Sailors Y and Z. "Y-You guys…"

"Oi, you planet scouts are really something else…" Z said in a condescending manner. Y!

"Got it!" Y nodded, directing the cannon ball right into the Dark Artist, causing it to stumble back a great deal, almost to the point where it fell over.

"Perfect!" Sailor Z hopped forward, her leg surrounded by a bright white light, "Star Ascension!" She whipped her leg up, nailing the Dark Artist in the facial area, just above where a chin would be, causing it to fall onto its butt. "Too easy!" She turned her back to face Moon and Chibi Moon, "You two should be quicker with your actions, otherwise you might just die." Her voice was very blunt, and it was in a condescending teacher like tone.

"Mhm, use your powers to their full extent, no matter what the battle. And you should at least be able to USE an attack, and not just flail around aimlessly," Sailor Y added.

"Oh yeah?!" Sailor Moon grumbled through clenched teeth, storming up to Sailor Z, "And just WHO do you think YOU are to boss US around?!"

Chibi Moon followed behind her senior, her arms crossed and glaring at Y and Z, "Yeah, you don't have the right to boss us around like that!"

"We're not bossing you around you idiots!" Z snapped, "We're just giving helpful advice to hopeless scouts like you so you won't DIE to a weak thing such as-" Z was interrupted by a large black cage slamming onto the girls, trapping them, "…This…"

"Well…this is awkward…" Y coughed. The cage then began to compress quickly. "AH!"

"We have to get out of here!" Moon commented.

"We're running out of elbow room here…!" Z started to panic, showing a few signs of claustrophobia.

"Calm down Z!" Y looked over at Z, looking up at the Artist, who would probably be grinning if it had a face. Before the cage could completely compress, a red rose streaked by into the canvas, shattering it, causing the cage to vanish. "W-What the…?"

Moon and Chibi Moon looked over at the rose, quickly turning their heads to the direction it came from, "Tuxedo Mask!"

Y and Z's eyes widened slightly from the sight of Tuxedo Mask, "Z-Z…" Y started, "He looks just like…!"

"I know…" Z muttered.

Tuxedo Mask was standing on a nearby tree, his arm extended due to his throw, "Art should be used to bring joy to people's heart, not to be used to harm them! Sailor Moon!"

"Hai!" Sailor Moon nodded, pulling out her Moon Spiral Heart Rod, "Moon…" She began to twirl around, slowing crouching as she held the Heart Rod up high, spinning faster and faster with each complete 360-degree rotation, "Spiral…Hearrrrrrt ATTACK!" She suddenly stopped spinning, and a large pink heart hurtled towards the Artist, making direct contact as the Artist turned into a glitter of lights. "We did it!" Sailor Moon smiled widely at Tuxedo Mask and Chibi Moon.

"You mean WE did it," Sailor Z interrupted. By this time, Luna, Artemis, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury made their way to the scene after all the commotion.

"What do you mean by "WE"?" Sailor Moon asked with attitude, placing her hands on her hips as she leaned forward, sneering at Sailor Z.

"You heard me," Z remarked, glaring right back at Sailor Moon, "If it weren't for Y and I, you would be dead."

"You guys got us captured though!" Chibi Moon shouted.

"The only reason we got trapped was because we were TRYING to be nice and help you out, but you two can't take advice and decided to get in our butts about it!" Y snapped.

"You were trying to tell us how to do our job!" Moon snapped right back.

"If you're gonna take it that what, fine!" Z put her arms up, "I'm not in the mood for a petty argument, but know this, if you get in our way one more time, we won't hesitate to attack you." She huffed as she and Y made their exit.

"Who do those guys think they are…?!" Mars practically yelled at them, but she stopped when Venus took her hand, shaking her head no.

"They aren't worth it…" Venus said.

"Those are them?" Luna asked, watching as the girls vanished.

"Yeah," Jupiter nodded, "That's them. Well…two of them…I don't know where X was…"

"We're gonna have to watch out for them…" Artemis mumbled audibly, also thinking, "Who are they…?"

From the crowd of trees nearby, a mysterious figure (the same one from before) was watching this entire ordeal. "Not today either…when is one going to show up?!"


	5. Chapter 5: Beach Crash

"O'Chunkten, I have another assignment for you," Count Dark said, getting straight to the point.

"Oi, got somethin' today, do ya?" O'Chunkten grinned, rubbing his hands together.

"Yes, the target works at what I believe the humans call…a beach?"

"A BEACH!?" Mimi's eyes lit up, and she grinned widely.

"What are you so excited for?" Nastansia asked Mimi, raising a brow at her face.

"A beach is absolutely WONDERFUL! It's a great relaxation spot to get some rest! R&R!" A think puff a purple smoke appeared before she appeared in a hat covering her hair, sunglasses covering her eyes, and a green two-piece bathing suit.

"Mimi, what are you doing?" Dimentio asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"Going to the beach, duh." Mimi replied, smiling widely.

"Who gave you permission?" Count Dark asked immediately.

"W-Well…I was just hoping I could get some sunshine…!" Mimi tripped over her words slightly, smiling nervously, "I've been inside the castle all day…!"

Dark exhaled, letting out a sigh, tossing O'Chunkten a picture. "O'Chunkten, keep an eye on her, please."

O'Chunkten caught the picture and nodded, "Aye sir!" He then turned his head to Mimi, who was already packed up, "Aye…C'mon lass."

"Eeeeeee!" Mimi squealed and warped out along with O'Chunkten.

"Are you sure that was a good idea, Count?" Nastansia asked; a bit worried. "You know how Mimi can be sometimes…"

"As long as she doesn't blow O'Chunkten's cover, or vice versa, things should be fine," Dark responded.

"I suppose all we can do is sit and wait as though we were waiting for a doctor's appointment," Dimentio nodded, twirling around a black and white shaped ball of energy in his hand.

"I guess you're right…" Nastansia fixed her glasses, "I wonder which Monsuta O'Chunkten is deciding to use today…"

The sky was clear, not a single cloud could be seen in the sky. The sun shone down on the beach brightly. Usagi, Rei, Minako, Mako, Ami, and Chibiusa were all enjoying this weather, as they were ready to have a perfect beach day. "This weather is perfect!" Usagi practically swooned just as the wind gently blew her hair.

"We picked the perfect day to go out!" Minako grinned, setting down a towel and laid her back on it.

"I wanna build a sand castle!" Chibiusa exclaimed, running over to an open spot in the sand.

"I'll help you!" Usagi grabbed a bucket, running over along with Chibiusa.

Ami was sitting down on a chair, her nose buried into a book, not really paying attention to the outside world.

"There she goes again…" Mako sighed.

"Ami-chaaaaaaaan!" Minako called out to her, "This is our day off, remember? No studying!"

"I'm not studying," Ami called back, "I'm just reading a very thrilling novel!"

"…Lame." Minako coughed, then turned her attention back to Rei and Mako, "So, what are we going to do!?"

"Let's play some volleyball!" Rei suggested.

"Oh, you're so on, and you're so going down!" Minako smirked confidently, standing up.

"Heeeey," Chibiusa whined slightly.

"What is it?" Usagi blinked, looking at Chibiusa.

"We need some water," Chibiusa then pointed to the bucket next to Usagi, "Go fill that up."

"You could ask nicely," Usagi huffed, standing up and picking up the bucket, quickly making her way over to the water and filled the bucket up, yelping out quietly when she found it started to get a bit heavier than she thought it would be. "Waaah! This is heavy…!"

"Yeah, that's kinda what happens when you fill a bucket with water…" A familiar male voice said. Usagi turned at the sound of the voice, spotting Marcus, who was wearing swim trunks, and Anna, who was wearing a purple one piece bathing suit, and her black hair was shining somewhat because it had been wet. "Marcus? Anna?"

"Hello~!" Anna waved, grinning slightly.

"Yo." Marcus gave a slight wave, placing his hands behind his head.

"What are you guys doing here?" Usagi asked curiously.

"Day off, of course," Anna replied, her grin widening. "Kate and Grace are…over there…somewhere." She used her hand to point out the general location of the two sisters. "Anyway, you want some help with that?" Anna asked.

"Oh yes, please." Usagi nodded, lifting the bucket as high as she could over to Anna.

"Allow me to help then," Anna nodded, taking the bucket and lifted it with relative ease in both hands, following Usagi out of the water.

"Psssh, wimp." Marcus chuckled and slowly made his way out the water, and over to Kate and Grace. Grace was wearing a one-piece yellow bathing suit, her sun glasses resting on her head, and she was causally licking a vanilla ice cream cone, while Kate was in a purple two piece, wearing a sunhat.

"Where's Anna?" Grace asked, licking her ice cream, not noticing she had a smidge on her upper lip.

"She went with Usagi, guess she's gonna spend some time with them," Marcus replied.

"Oh, that's nice!" Kate remarked, adjusting her sunhat.

"We are on a day off," Marcus started, "So why not enjoy ourselves? "

"Maybe the others are around here somewhere," Grace thought, looking around.

Mimi and O'Chunkten were also nearby, but O'Chunkten kept himself hidden, while Mimi was causally lying on her stomach on a towel, enjoying the sun on her back. "Mmm, this is perfect," She sighed contently.

"Instead of relaxin' you could help meh find dis target ya know, lass," O'Chunkten suggested.

Mimi waved a hand dismissively, "Your job is just to find a Pure Soul, and make sure I stay outta trouble. My job is just to relax~." She yawned, resting her head on her hands.

"Aye, way to be helpful…" O'Chunkten sighed; glancing at the picture he was given and scanned the area around for the target. The target was a male, looking to be about in his late teens.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll be keeping my eye out for cute boys too~." She giggled.

"Not exactly what I had in mind…" O'Chunkten muttered.

"Oh, I'm just joking!" Mimi sighed, "Gosh, take a joke sometimes you lug. Doesn't matter how cute a boy is, when it's my turn, I'm not letting anything stand in my way."

"Ya better hold up ta that."

Anna decided to help Chibiusa and Usagi with their sand castle. "So," Usagi started, "Tell me more about yourself, Anna."

"Hmm, well, I don't have THAT much to tell. Let's see…I guess the main things are that I'm really smart, and my family is really wealthy!" Anna nodded firmly.

"Wealthy?" Chibiusa blinked.

"Mhm!" Anna nodded once again, pointing to the beach house at the far end of the beach. "See that house? That's mine."

"A-All yours?!" Usagi's jaw dropped slightly.

"Mhm! All mine!"

"Whoooa!" Usagi and Chibiusa were clearly shocked by this.

Anna rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "Oh, it's not THAT big of a deal…"

"Hey, Anna!" Grace and Kate waved as they approached the three.

"Grace, Kate!" Usagi grinned, calling out to her friends. "Hey guys, look who's here!"

"Hi guys!" Kate waved cheerfully to Ami, Rei, Mako, and Minako.

"Hey!" Minako returned the wave, grinning.

"What brings you guys here?" Rei asked.

"Oh, we're just on a day off," Grace replied, "Actually; we should be getting back to your house soon, Anna."

"Leaving so soon?" Ami asked.

"Sadly, we have to," Anna sighed, standing up. "It was nice spending time with you though!" Anna smiled quickly, nodding to the other two. "Let's go." Then they walked off.

"I like her!" Chibiusa nodded, "She's nice!"

"They are nice," Mako nodded, "I'm glad we go to school with them!"

A few hours later, the sun began to set, causing the sky to turn from blue to orange. The beach was mostly cleared at this point as people had already left. Luckily, for O'Chunkten, he spotted the target, and kept a hawk's eye on him. "Good, good, people are clearing out…"

Mimi stood up, stretching and yawning, "That was the best nap I've ever had in my life…"

"…YOU WERE SLEEPING!?"

"Uh…Yeah…?"

"But…I was askin' ya all kinds of questions…And ya responded…oddly."

"Oh…" Mimi's cheeks turned pink slightly, "I guess…I sleep talk…" She then narrowed her eyes at O'Chunkten, "What did you ask me, and how did I respond?"

"Oh, it was nothin' lass," He chuckled lightly, standing up as he was about to make his move.

"Oh, you're starting now?" Mimi asked, "Well, best of luck and all that," She gave a two finger salute and teleported out.

"Thanks for the help," O'Chunkten sighed before approaching the target.

"Mmm, what a successful day!" Rei grinned, having her things packed as the girls were ready to go.

"You can say that again!" Usagi nodded in agreement with Rei for once.

"Too bad the day went by so fast," Mako shrugged, "But at least the day wasn't wasted."

"When I get home I'm gonna eat some ramen and sleeeeeeeeeep," Minako nodded, turning her head over, shocking at a familiar sight. "G-Guys!" She pointed over to O'Chunkten extracting a Pure Soul out of a male's chest, "L-Look!"

"It's O'Chunkten again!" Ami exclaimed.

"Doesn't that guy every quit?" Rei groaned.

"C'mon girls!" Usagi shouted, "Moon Cosmic Power…"

"Moon Prism Power…"

"Mars Star Power…"

"Mercury Star Power…"

"Jupiter Star Power…"

"Mercury Star Power…"

"Make-UP!"

O'Chunkten just finished extracting the soul, smirking at the fact he found a rather desolate place to corner the target, but he frowned when all he managed to pull out was a pink sphere. "Blast it!"

"Hold it right there!" Sailor Moon commanded.

"Oh you CAN'T be serious!" O'Chunkten groaned as he dropped the body and the soul.

"A beach is-"

"Yeah, there isn't really any time for your petty speech," O'Chunkten interrupted. He then snapped his fingers, a monster made of sand, emerging from the sand. "Meh, take 'em out, Black Sand." He then warped out.

"Oh, such a creative name…" Mars said sarcastically; however, she was cut short as a solid mass of sand struck into her, causing her to fly back into the sand. "Ah! Now my hair's a mess!"

"Shine Aqua Illusion!" Mercury twirled around once, sending a large beam of water towards the mass of evil sand, however there was no effect. "W-What?! The sand should've solidified! That's how it works!"

"Mercury, look out!" Jupiter dove, grabbing Mercury just before a solid mass of sand attempting to strike her.

"How do we fight SAND!?" Sailor Moon flailed.

"First we stay calm!" Venus shouted, keeping her eyes on the monster. However, the next thing the Sand did was create a harsh sandstorm, blinding the girls from going any farther.

"A-Ah!" I can't see! Chibi Moon skidded back across the ground, her eyes closed tight to prevent any sand from getting in there.

"W-What do we do!?" Jupiter asked, trying to move forward, but couldn't due to the sandstorm's sheer power.

"Gravity Dispersion!" A transparent beam of gravity hit the sandstorm, instantly intensifying any and all gravity from every sand particle, causing the sand to fall.

"H-Huh?" Sailor Moon looked around, spotting three familiar, but unlikeable faces.

"It's them…" Mars grumbled.

"Oh, what?" Sailor Y started, "We don't even get a thank you?"

"Thanks." Venus said blandly.

"I could whip that sandstorm back up for you, if you'd like," Y smirked.

"Watch it," X stated, all three of them jumping back before a line of sand could strike them.

"Are they gonna show us up again…?" Jupiter grumbled.

"No, of course not," Z sighed, shaking her head, but she was smirking cockily. "We're just gonna show you how REAL Sailor Scouts get the job done. Y!"

"On it!" Y opened her palm, forming a dense ball of gravity. "Gravity Bomb!" The ball flew forward, hitting the giant Black Sand, compressing its body into a psychical mass.

"X!"

"On it!" X pointed her finger forward, a small meteorite forming, "Meteor Crash!"

As X pointed her finger out, Z did the same, a white start forming, "Star Beam!" Z fired off a stream of white stars, all striking the Black Sand in various points, weakening its body severely; The sand had no time to react to the incoming meteor, which smashed into its fragile body, causing it to explode into bits of light.

"And THAT'S how it's done," Z said, dusting her hands off.

"Show offs…" Mars practically said aloud.

"We aren't show offs," Y stated.

"You sure act like ones," Venus retorted.

"It's not our fault we're better than you," Z scoffed.

"You aren't better than us!" Jupiter took offense to this statement.

"Uh-huh…" X said, not really even paying attention; she was looking more at her nails than at the scouts.

"Look, just because you came in here, and took out like what, 2 of those monsters, doesn't mean you're better!" Sailor Moon said, slowly raising her voice at X, something in which she rarely did.

"We didn't need any help beating those monsters," Z stated, turning her back to Sailor Moon, looking over her shoulder. "Our guy doesn't show up to bail us out every single day because we don't need it, and when you guys manage to save our butts at one point in time, maybe we can talk. But until you…you know, get better at doing your job, how about you sit back and just watch how real Scouts work, k?"

"Oh that is IT!" Mars' anger was seething, "I've had ENOUGH of your stuck up attitude!" She traced her finger in a circle, a flame trailing along her path. "Burning…"

"Mars, no!" Chibi Moon attempted to stop Mars, but she was pulled back by the others.

"Mandala!" Rings of fire shot forward towards the trio.

Y shook her head, "Oi…you're pathetic…" She held her hand out, stopping the gravity of the incoming fire rings. "We told you last time we were being nice," She flicked her wrist, changing the gravity configuration of the fire rings, sending them shooting back at Mars; causing her to cover herself as her own blazing rings started to cut her outfit, yelping out.

"H-Hey!" Venus stepped up, glaring at Y, "You can't do that to her!"

"And why not?" Y asked immediately. "She attacked us, and we WARNED you girls."

"You girls REALLY want to do this?" Z stepped up, crossing her arms, "We won't hold back." She had the most professional, yet serious look on her face; X and Y also had this look.

"We can't let you get away with hurting Mars like that," Sailor Moon responded, "You could've just sent the attack in another direction, you know that!" She never felt so angered before in her life, she pulled out her Moon Spiral Heart Rod, "Someone has to teach you a lesson…you may be Sailor Senshi, but you aren't our friends…"

Sailor Z smirked, "We aren't related to you in any way shape or form, so of course we're not your friends, nor do we want to be. Do it, weakling. Show me how "strong" you really are."

"Sailor Moon…" Chibi Moon bit her lip nervously.

"Moon…Spiral…" Sailor Moon started to twirl around, "Hearrrrrrt…"

"Hmph," Z grunted as she pointed her finger out, a large star forming, "Star…"

"G-Guys!" Jupiter bit her tongue; she had faith Sailor Moon could handle Sailor Z.

"Attack!" Sailor Moon stopped spinning, a large pink heart flying out of the Spiral Heart Rod and towards Sailor Z.

"Cannon!" Sailor Z blasted a large white star forward, clashing with the large heart, constantly going back and forth, the energy forcing sparks to fly. Sailor X and Y just stood there with their arms crossed, while Mars, Chibi Moon, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury were looking on with determination. After what seemed like forever, which was actually a few minutes, the Star Cannon overpowered the Moon Spiral Heart Attack and slammed into Sailor Moon, causing an explosion which caught the other scouts as well; when the smoke cleared the Inner Senshi could been seen with some marks on them, Sailor Moon had the worst of it, and she was panting heavily. "W-What…?! B-But how…?!"

"I told you," Sailor Z said while turning her back along with the others. "We're stronger than you," The trio of X Y and Z then walked off into the distance.

"Hmph…I don't care about your petty fights…I just want to see a Pure Soul…" Said a figure watching behind a palm tree.


	6. Chapter 6: Secrets Revealed

Downtown Juuban was wracked with battle; the citizens who were downtown quickly had to flee from the monster that was attacking the area. O'Chunkten had once again come up short in his hunt for a Pure Soul, and the Sailor Scouts, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, and Chibi Moon had come to stop him. However, once again, the enemy proved too diverse and powerful for the girls alone; however, the trio of X Y and Z appeared on the scene once again, easily taking care of the enemy after O'Chunkten left.

"What's this," Z started, "Like, the third time in a row we've saved your butts?"

"We didn't ask for help!" Chibi Moon shouted, already ticked off just from the trio being there.

"But you clearly needed it," X stated in a matter of factly manner.

"Will you just leave?!" Mars yelled in anger, "Okay, you beat the monster, big whoop! There's no need to rub it in our faces and make us look like jokes!"

"You do that on your own…" Y said with a straight face.

Sailor Moon clenched her fist. "How can these three call themselves Sailor Scouts?" She wondered, "Not even Neptune and Uranus were like this when we first met…"

"Oh, you just hush," Z, sighed, shaking her head. "I think we've already proved that we'd defeat you in an all-out fight, so there's no need for this unless you REALLY want to have your butts handed to you on a silver platter?"

"You're uptight attitude is really starting to get on my nerves…" Jupiter growled through gritted teeth.

"Do something about it then?" X smirked. The two groups of scouts found themselves standing across from each other once again, the wind blowing just enough to blow all of their hair slightly. Just then, a red slight streaked by as a red rose flew towards the trio, but; it was quickly intercepted by a blue rose, which knocked the red rose out of the air.

"He's here," Z said calmly, looking up at the building just above them, spotting Masked Crusader.

"Stay out of business that doesn't involve you," Masked Crusader declared, pointed at Tuxedo Mask.

"It is my duty to protect the Sailor Scouts, and Sailor Moon," Tuxedo Mask stated, drawing his black cane in case Masked Crusader was going to try something.

"And it's my job to make sure these three stay outta trouble, only if I need to however. Don't jump in immediately the first chance you get. That's why your girls are so weak, they can't finish what they start without any help, it seems." Crusader chuckled, turning around, his blue cape flowing slightly in the wind. "Come on, we're done here anyway."

"Right," Z nodded, "Let's fall back." The trio, and the other rose thrower left the area.

"Who ARE those people, and what is their problem…?" Venus grumbled.

It had been a few days since O'Chunkten's last attack, and since X Y and Z had been seen. However, it was too early to assume both had just up and left. Grace was exiting a dog pound with the largest grin on her face. She turned her head to the male as she exited; the male inside was wearing a pair of green pants and shirt, along with thick heavy glasses that were dirty, so it was near impossible to tell what color eyes he had, and a hat that covered his hair. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Grace?" The male asked.

"Of course, Ethan!" Grace flashed a bright smile as the door closed, as she was exiting, Ami and Usagi were walking along the sidewalk.

"Hey, Grace!" Usagi waved her over.

"Hm?" Graced turned her head, smiling at the sight of Ami and Usagi. "Hey guys!"

"Who was that?" Ami asked, pointing to the door in reference to the male Grace was talking to.

"Him? Oh, that's Ethan. He works there, and I help him out with the dogs from time to time," She grinned.

"That's so nice of you!" Usagi nodded, smiling brightly.

"He's so nice too…" Grace trailed off.

"Ooooh," Usagi gave a teasing grin, "You should ask him out!"

"W-What?!" Grace's face turned red from Usagi's comment.

"Your face is red~" Usagi continued in a teasing tone.

Grace covered her face with her hands, attempting to hide her blush, "W-We're just co-workers! Kinda…That's all! A-And besides, I'm too busy!"

"With what, if I may ask?" Ami asked.

"O-oh, I'm just heading over to Anna's later so we can study," Grace nodded, feeling her blush fade, so she took her hands off her face.

Ami's ears perked up at the work "study", "How long does Anna study?" Ami asked once again.

"Oh, she's a bookworm," Grace chuckled a little bit, "At least three hours a day."

"HOW?!" Usagi flailed her arms, "I can barely study for five!"

"Oh, three hours isn't THAT much, Usagi-chan," Ami said with a nervous smile.

"Gah…Say, Grace? Why wasn't Kate here today?" Usagi asked, tilting her head.

"Oh, she's sick today," Grace nodded, "She's been coughing and hacking all day."

"Awh, that sucks," Usagi pouted lightly, "I was wondering where she went…"

"We don't want to keep you," Ami said with a smile, "So, we'll see you later?"

"Of course! See ya!" Grace flashed a bright smile before skipping away.

"She's nice," Ami said with a nod.

"Mhm, she really is. So are Kate and Anna. I would hate to see them get targeted by the enemy…" She frowned a bit.

"What if they have Pure Souls…?" Ami said, almost in a whisper.

A serious expression came over Usagi and she looked over at Ami, "I…I don't know…T-This isn't something we can discuss on our own, let's just hurry over to Rei's place."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to thrust a heavy question onto you like that without warning, Usagi-chan…"

"It's fine, Ami-chan. Let's just go, okay?"

"Right…"

Within the depths of Castle Dark, O'Chunkten was hanging his head before a slight upset Count Dark. "O'Chunkten," Count Dark started, "You've been racking up failures left and right lately…"

"Aye! I swear, it's not meh fault, Count!" O'Chunkten stated defensively.

"Honestly, O'Chunkten," Dimentio sighed, shaking his head in disappointment, "How strong can these Sailor Scouts be?"

"It's not just them! It's also dem rose throwin' weirdos!" O'Chunkten shouted.

"Now you're just crazy…" Mimi rolled her eyes, filing her nails.

"Silence," Count Dark stated, "All of you. I have not yet found a new target."

"So what do I do?" O'Chunkten asked, scratching his head.

"You can sit and think about different ways than using the direct approach to taking Pure Souls. Sometimes the direct approach isn't always the best answer, you know."

"Aye sir…"

The next day, school had just ended, and most of the students were flooding out of the front doors as usual.

"Is Kate still sick?" Marcus asked, looking around.

"Yup," Anna nodded. "If she doesn't get better by tomorrow she's gonna miss that big test…"

"I'm not ready for that test at alllll…" Grace groaned.

"Same heeeeeerrrreee…" Usagi groaned, trudging over to the three.

"Hey, Usagi!" Anna smiled, then tilted her head, "What's wrong?"

"I was late, so I didn't have enough time to pack a lunch. I am starrrrrving!" Usagi rubbed her stomach, pouting.

"Maybe if you woke up on time you wouldn't be starving after school…" Marcus said.

"But…" Usagi started to object, but she couldn't find an argument.

"He's right you know," Grace commented, "I'd help you, but my lunch was too good not to eat."

"Same here!" Anna chimed in, "Some of my cooks are AMAZING! Their food taste like heaven."

"UGGGH…" Usagi groaned once again, feeling her stomach rumble.

"Oh, you'll be fine!" Grace nodded, smiling a bit. She then checked on her watch, turning to Anna, "Oh, we're gonna be late!"

"For what?" Marcus asked.

"We're helping Ethan today! C'mon!" Grace grabbed Anna's wrist and dragged her along.

"I'm just gonna go over to the park and starve…" Usagi groaned, making her way away from the trio. She made her way outside, and traveled towards the park, trudging slowly the entire way, questioning to herself if she was even gonna make it.

"O'Chunkten, are you here?" Count Dark asked, looking around the room slightly.

"Aye," O'Chunkten fell from the ceiling, landing on his feet.

"I've found a target for you," Dark said, hurling a picture at O'Chunkten.

"And I've prepared the perfect little batch of Monsuta's for you," Nastansia giggled.

"Oh, did 'cha now?" O'Chunkten took the picture and examined it, "Dog Pound, eh?"

"It appears so; now try doing something aside from the direct approach this time, alright?" Count Dark commanded.

"Yes sir."

Grace pushed the doors open to the Dog pound with a large smile on her face, "We're here!"

"Perfect!" Ethan was at the front desk, smiling as the girls walked in.

"Where do we start?" Anna asked, looking around.

"Actually…" Ethan rubbed the back of his head, "Two employees couldn't make it today. Would you two mind finding two replacements for today?"

"Of course not!" Grace smiled.

"But...uh…where are we gonna…" Anna started, confused.

"Oh, I know just where to look!" Grace's smile turned into a grin, "Follow me!" She grabbed Anna's hand once again, dragging her out the door; as the two exited, a large figure in a trench coat and hat walked in, accidentally bumping into them."

"Sorry lasses," the figure said before stepping inside.

"Can I help you?" Ethan asked.

"Ah, yes, this is the…er…surprise inspection!"

"…Oh man, I completely forgot that was soon!" Ethan face palmed, "Please, please, come this way!"

Usagi made her way to the park, the meeting place of the next meeting. However, when she got there, the only people she saw was Rei, sitting on a bench alongside Luna. "Huh?" Usagi tilted her head, making her way over. "Where are the others?"

"You're late," Rei started, "As usual…"

"The others turned out to be busy, so we couldn't have the meeting today," Luna stated.

"So why are you two here!?" Usagi flailed.

"Because Luna didn't want you freaking out and getting lost since no one else was here," Rei sighed, leaving herself out of that statement for a reason.

"Hmph," Usagi huffed and crossed her arms, "Thank you for actually caring, Luna. As for you, Rei-chan," Usagi poked her tongue out at Rei, who poked her tongue back out in retaliation.

"Well, now that this is over," Rei sat up, dusting her short off, "I'll be heading home now."

"Good riddance," Usagi said.

"Good to be away from you," Rei retorted.

"Oh yeah-" Usagi started, but before she could finish, Anna and Grace had walked up to the two. "Anna? Grace?" Usagi tilted her head, "Why are you guys here?"

"Oh, good, you're here!" Grace grinned, "We need an extra pair of hands back at the dog pound. Would you two mind helping us out?"

"I don't mind helping," Rei nodded, "But make sure you keep that walking disaster away from me. I don't want to take any blame when she does something wrong."

"HEY! I'm not a walking disaster!" Usagi yelled.

"Girls..." Luna mumbled, quickly covering it with a meow when she remembered Grace and Anna were standing right there.

"...Did that cat just..." Anna started.

"Nope!" Usagi and Rei said in a nervous unison, waving Luna away.

"You must be hearing things!" Usagi laughed nervously, a classic anime sweat drop appearing on the side of her head.

"Right..." Grace nodded slowly, then they four started to walk back.

At the dog pound, Ethan had led the figure wearing a trench coat into the back, into a large, circular room. "And this is where..." Ethan started.

"Ah, that'll be enough, lad," the figure stated.

"Huh?"

"Because I'll be takin' yer Pure Soul now!" the figure whipped off their trench coat revealing himself to be O'Chunkten.

"W-What the!?" Ethan stumbled back in shock, confused as to what was happening.

The girls walked inside, giggling over some small talk when they suddenly stopped, hearing a pained scream echoing throughout the halls and into the front door.

"W-what was that!?" Usagi yelped, automatically shifting herself closer to Rei.

"I-IT came from the back!" Grace shot forward down the hallway, the other three following behind her. When they entered the back room they saw O'Chunkten ust pulling out a pink sphere.

"Dammit!" O'Chunkten groaned, placing the sphere back into Ethan's body.

"H-Hey!" Anna shouted.

"Hm?" O'Chunkten turned, spotting the pair of four, throwing Ethan's body into the wall.

"E-Ethan!" Grace, Anna, Usagi, and Rei ran over to him, making sure he was okay.

"No survivors," O'Chunkte mumbled. "Black Hounds, finish 'em." He snapped his fingers, causing a horde of black dogs to appear, O'Chunkten used this time to teleport out.

"W-What the...!?" Anna stuttered as the Black Hounds split into a group of two, one group backing her and Grace into a corner, and the other group backing Rei and Usagi into a corner.

"T-These things aren't going to eat us, right...?" Rei asked nervously, her heart pounding furiously against her chest. Right after she said that, the Hound closest to them licked its lips.

"WAAAH! I don't taste good!" Usagi flailed, pushing Rei in front of her, "She taste better, but she might give you the runs!"

"USAGI!" Rei snarled at Usagi, backing up until she felt her back against the wall.

"We need to transform!" Anna whispered to Grace.

"They're gonna see us...!" Grace nearly shouted back, but managed to keep her voice to a whisper.

"It's better than becoming dog meat!" Anna quickly whispered back.

"Rei-chan," Usagi said with a serious look in her eye.

"Yeah, I know," Rei nodded.

"Moon Cosmic Power...!"

"Mars star power!"

Grace pulled out a yellow transformation pen, the top rounded into a sphere, "Z Star Power...!"

Anna pulled out a purple transformation pen, very similar to Mars' "X Star Power!"

"Make-up!"

The girls transformed into their respective alter egos, both pairs looking t each other in shock.

"G-Grace is...A-Anna is..." Sailor Moon's jaw dropped.

"Sailor Moon, focus!" Mars shouted, hiding her shared feeling of disbelief. She traced her finger in a circle, holding her hands out after, "Burning Mandala!" She then sent rings of fire shooting out of her hands and across the room, taking outa large chunk of the Black Hounds in the room.

"Moon Tiara Action!" Sailor Moon flung her tiara like boomerang, it going in a circle, taking out a decent chunk of the remaining Hounds. But, a Hound had managed to sneak behind her, and lunged at her back; Sailor Moon turned around just in time to see it coming, "WAAH!"

"Meteor Crash!" Sailor X quickly fired off a meteor at the Hound, destroying it.

"We're not obligated to help them..." Z said sternly to X.

"B-But Grace..." X whimpered.

Z shook her head, biting her lip slightly.

"Is that all of them?" Mars asked.

"Maybe..." Sailor Moon said, looking around. Just then, a large Black Hound appeared from the floor, roaring ferociously. "WAAAAAAH!"

"That must be the leader o the pack," Z stated, glaring t the large Hound.

"I'll take care of it!" Mars shouted, firing off anther Burning Mandala. However, the large Black Hound roared, causing her attack to disperse and covered the girls with spit."

"EEWWWW!" X flailed her body round, attempting to get the saliva off her, "GET IT OFF!"

"GROSS!" Z gaged, trying to stop what was on her from moving. The Black Hound smirked, rearing its body back, then charged forward at the distracted girls, only to find itself cut short when blue streak flew by its front leg, cutting it; A blue rose landed nearby.

"He's here...!" X looked up, spotting Masked Crusader.

"I guess we're really in a jam..." Z smirked slightly.

"Taking care of a pet is a big responsibility," Masked Crusader commented.

"Yeah, yeah I know!" Z replied, her tone towards him extremely friendly and amusing, which confused Moon and Mars.

"Now's my chance!" Moon nodded, pulling out her Moon Spiral Heart Rod; she started to twirl around almost immediately, "Moon Spiral..."

Z used this time to focus her energy into her fingertip, a large white star forming. "Star..."

"Heart Attack!"

"CANNON!" Z fired off her Star Cannon right as Moon fired off her Moon Spiral Heart Attack, the two attacks merging midway, creating Moon Star Spiral Heart Cannon; exploding on contact once it hit the Black Hound, causing it to explode into glitter of lights.

"We did it!" Moon grinned; her grin faded once she looked back at Sailors Z and X; frowning heavily.

Z frowned heavily as well, but she attempted to hide it. These girls she had just gotten to know were Sailor Scouts, the ones she had been claiming she and her group were better than. The ones she wasn't even she could trust. "X-X...C-Crusader..."

"Come on." Masked Crusader nodded to Z and X; who left the scene, leaving Moon and Mars standing there, confused.


	7. Chapter 7: Crisis! A Pure Soul Appears!

It was late at night, just after the events of what happened at the Dog Pound. Kate was called over for a team meeting, and despite her sickness, she managed to make it over to Anna's house without much trouble. The four met in her living room. The room was large, the walls were painted blue, a rather nice red carpet, and some chairs and couches. The windows were covered with blue covers as well, blocking out any moonlight that attempted to sneak in the room. Kate took a seat on a chair, coughing a bit. "So, what's this sudden meeting for?" She asked, covering her mouth as she coughed a few more times, her cheeks slightly red from her slightly over average temperature.

"That's what I want to know," Marcus said, "These two," he gestured over to Anna and Grace, "Have been acting weird since they enemy's attack a few hours ago.

Anna twiddled her thumbs, looking down at the ground nervously, "W-Well…"

Marcus suddenly raised a brow, his voice having a tint of worry to it, "Did something happen?"

"They saw us…" Grace gulped after she spoke.

"Who saw you?" Kate asked, coughing before she started speaking and coughing after she spoke.

"U-Usagi and R-Rei…" Anna bit her lip nervously.

"What do you mean they saw you?" Marcus asked, his brow still raised.

"They saw us transform…" Grace continued.

Kate jumped up immediately, coughing once before speaking, "B-But, that's not so bad! We can trust them, right!?"

"That's not all…" Anna started, her voice getting sadder by the second.

"Eh?" Marcus raised an eyebrow, "What else could there be?"

Grace took a deep breath, "U-Usagi is Sailor Moon…and Rei is Sailor Mars," This news caused Marcus and Kate's eyes to go wide.

"W-WHAT!?" Kate raising her voice caused her to have a mini heart attack, so she sat back down until she calmed down.

"You can't be serious!" Marcus shouted.

"It's true…" Anna sighed, "Usagi used Moon Cosmic Power to transform…, and Rei used Mars Star Power…"

"I can't believe this," Marcus sighed, leaning back in the chair he was sitting in and shook his head slightly, "That means her friends…Ami, Makoto, Minako, and Chibiusa have to be Sailor Scouts too…I don't know who that Tuxedo Mask could be though…"

"They're such nice people though…" Kate commented.

"We can't allow our feelings of them to cloud our judgment," Marcus stated.

"B-But!" Grace attempted to object.

"We can't trust them," Marcus stated in a very clear cut manner, "We don't know if they're working with the enemy or not. Or someone else, or if they're even on our side."

"But they've helped save people with Pure Souls!" Anna objected.

"Yeah, the unimportant ones," Marcus replied, "What happens when a real Pure Soul shows up?" Anna lowered her head, staying silent, seeing Marcus' point completely. "We're not obligated to help them anyway."

"But what if…" Kate started.

Marcus shook his head, "You guys can think what you want. It's the truth. They cannot be trusted. It doesn't get any clearer cut than that."

Kate coughed and looked down at the ground, "Ugh."

At Hikawa Shrine, Usagi and Rei had called everyone over for an emergency meeting; they all met outside on the front stairs. "Is everyone here?" Rei asked.

Minako looked around, nodding at the sight of Ami, Luna, Artenus, Makoto, Chibiusa, and Mamoru. "Yup, everyone's here and accounted for."

"What's this meeting for?" Makoto asked, playing with her ponytail slightly.

Usagi was unable to find the words to speak, she kept looking down at the ground biting her lip, "I…Uhm…Well…" She sighed, frowning heavily as she looked up at Rei, "Rei-chan…?"

"….G-Grace, Kate, and Anna are Sailors X Y and Z…" This news was clearly a shock to all but Mamoru, as he had not yet met the girls officially, but he did seem a bit surprised at the other girls' reactions.

"T-Those girls are…!?" Luna started.

"H-How do you know!?" Ami asked.

"When we went to help then at the dog pound…the enemy attacked…and we saw them transform…" Usagi sighed, frowning.

Mamoru had a stern look on his face, wanting to make sure Usagi and Rei were not dreaming or anything, "All three of them?"

"W-Well Kate wasn't there…but Anna is Sailor X, and Grace is Sailor Z, so we can only assume that Kate is Sailor Y…" Rei sighed.

"What about that Masked Crusader?" Mamoru asked.

"Well…I dunno…" Rei had to think for this one.

"It could be Marcus…" Usagi suggested, "I mean…he's almost always hanging around them."

"W-What does this mean then?" Chibiusa stuttered.

"It means we can't trust them," Artemis glanced at all the girls after he finished his sentence.

"Y-You can't be serious!" Usagi objected.

Artemis turned to look back at Usagi, "I am. We are all well aware that those scouts cannot be trusted. You girls mustn't allow your feelings of them to cloud your judgment."

"B-But…!"

Ami sighed, "Artemis does have a point… We don't even know if they're on our side or not…"

"What should we do now?" Minako asked, poking her index fingers together.

"It's been a long day for you all," Luna said, "You too Usagi and Rei."

Usagi sighed, "W-Will you drive me home, Mamo-chan?"

Mamoru nodded, "Yeah…Come on, Chibiusa." The news was so depressing, that Chibiusa and Usagi didn't even argue about who got to ride shotgun.

In Castle Dark, the four minions were chatting amongst themselves as they waited for Count Dark to arrive. Mimi was disguised as a schoolgirl she had seen on TV recently. "You know O'Chunkten; the Count's not going to be very happy with you…" Mimi said.

O'Chunkten groaned in a frustrated manner, "Agh! I know! I can't help it!"

"These Sailor Scouts must be something else if they've been managing to give the muscle of our operation this much trouble." Nastansia commented, adjusting her glasses slightly with her right hand.

"Maybe that's the problem," Dimentio chimed in, "I would love to see our dearest O'Chunkten actually fight his own battles against these girls for once."

"Aye, Nastansia's Monsuta's should be good enough to defeat them, but they AREN'T!"

Nastansia quickly took a somewhat offended stance from O'Chunkten's exclamation, "exCUSE me!? My Monsuta's are brilliant! It's the person who I trust to use them who isn't good enough!"

Dimentio quickly floated up between the two, "Now, now, let's not be like little kids and argue," Dimentio said calmly. "The Count is counting on you," he pointed at O'Chunkten, "To collect Pure Souls for our operation," he then pointed at Nastansia, "And he is counting on you to create Monsuta's to help us get rid of this threat."

Mimi nodded, "Yeah! We're like a family! If we stay together, we'll eventually get what we want!"

"Aye…" O'Chunkten sighed, "They're right…sorreh fer snappin' at 'cha like that…"

"Yeah…" Nastansia awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck, "I'm sorry I called you an incompetent idiot…"

"You didn't say that…" O'Chunkten tilted his head.

"…I thought it…" Nastansia awkwardly looked away. Count Dark then appeared within the room in a flash.

"I see you all are getting along?" He asked.

"Y-Yeah!" A classic anime sweat drop appeared on the side of O'Chunkten's face, as he knew he was in hot water with the Count.

"You." Dark turned his attention to O'Chunkten.

O'Chunkten's face turned pale and he felt as though his heart had jumped into his throat, "Y-Yes Count?"

"I'm giving you one last chance, O'Chunkten," Dark said in a stern tone, "You had better produce some results if you wish to see field action again," Dark then tossed a picture at O'Chunkten, "This is the next target."

O'Chunkten held the picture up, squinting at it, "Hm…"

"Something wrong, big guy?" Mimi asked, noticing O'Chunkten's more careful than usual examination of the target.

"I get the feelin' I've seen this chick before…Ah well, it doesn't matter. Nastansia, I got an idea, wouldja mine setting me up with a Monsuta?" O'Chunkten asked.

"Of course. Tell me all about your plan!" Nastansia clapped her hands once, more excited at the fact O'Chunkten actually had a good idea. Who was the target in the photo, you ask? None other than Makoto Kino.

About a day later, Usagi, Mako, Rei, Chibiusa, Ami, and Minako were all walking down the street. Since it was a Saturday, they didn't have to worry about school. "I'm so glad we don't have school this week, I wouldn't be able to take it." Usagi sighed somewhat heavily.

"Since when did you ever take school seriously?" Chibiusa shot Usagi a look, smirking slightly.

"More so than usual you brat," Usagi shot a tiny glare at Chibiusa, "Because I have classes with them…"

Ami frowned slightly, nodding in agreement with Usagi, "I don't think I could take it either. I couldn't do well if I was focused on them…"

Chibiusa sighed, then looked up at a man in a suit, a black top hat, and sunglasses covering his face, "We got ourselves a real surprise in here, folks!" the man said. The man was actually O'Chunkten, but he was disguised as he was bringing people inside a large spacious building for some odd reason. "I hate this accent," O'Chunkten thought while he smiled. The people who were leaving the building seemed quite satisfied with what they saw.

"I wonder what that's all about…" Minako tilted her head slightly.

"Maybe we should go check it out?" Rei looked over at the other five girls, shrugging lightly.

"I wanna see!" Chibiusa hopped up and down excitedly.

"Stuff like this usually cost money though," Rei wagged a finger as she spoke.

"You have to admit, it does peak interest though…" Mako said quietly. She then reached into her pocket to pull something out, but realized what she was looking for wasn't in her pocket. "Gah! I can't believe I forgot…!"

"Huh? What's wrong, Mako-chan?" Ami asked.

"I forgot something at home…Don't worry, I'll be right back!" Mako nodded and quickly ran off.

"Huh…" Usagi shrugged and the girls stepped up to the large man.

"Hm?" O'Chunkten tilted his shades down, the girls in front of him seeming oddly familiar, but he shook it off, seeing as how he's never seen these girls in his life. "Go on, step inside," he said, opening the door.

"Really?" Rei asked, a suspicious look coming over her face, "We don't have to pay?"

"Nope! We aren't in this for the money, as there is a reward far greater!" O'Chunkten replied.

"Cool!" Usagi jumped for joy at the fact she didn't have to pay and she rushed inside, causing the others to instinctively follow after her hastiness. When the girls got inside, the big "surprise" that was inside the large building was a giant T-rex statue. According to researchers, who were skeptical about this, this seemed like a real deal, and they began to question how the exterior was neatly preserved for so long. "WHOA!" Usagi's jaw dropped. "That thing is huge!"

"It's bigger than your stomach, and I didn't even thing that was possible!" Chibiusa exclaimed.

"Hush you!" Usagi quickly replied.

Outside, a tall girl with a ponytail approached O'Chunkten. "May I go in?" She asked nicely.

O'Chunkten smirked, mistaking this girl for Makoto, "Of course, dear." He opened the door, allowing the girl to step in, but he stepped in himself after, shutting the door behind him. At this point, the only people in the building were him, Usagi, Chibiusa, Rei, Minako, Ami, and the girl. O'Chunkten snapped his fingers; within that very same second, the large T-Rex standing in the middle of the room roared as it came to life.

Usagi and the other girls jumped back, shrieking loudly at the sudden roar before hiding behind some boxes. "W-WAAAAH!"

"Get that gir-" O'Chunkten pointed at the girl he thought was Makoto, but he stopped, suddenly realizing it wasn't her. "W-What the?! GAH! How could you make an idiotic mistake?" Take her out!" The Black T-Rex swung its tail at the girl, knocking her into the wall and out.

"We have to transform!" Minako ordered.

"Right!" The girls nodded, preparing themselves for the transformation.

Meanwhile, O'Chunkten was face walling. "Ah, yah really screwed up dis time…! I jumped da bloody gun too early…"

"Hold it right there!" Sailor Moon commanded.

"Oh no…" O'Chunkten groaned. How could his day get any worse, he wondered. Well, that question was answered as soon as he thought it.

"Luring people into an attraction only to steal a soul from a poor maiden?" Sailor Moon started.

"Don't you start with this…" O'Chunkten sighed heavily, then got an idea, placing his hand out to stop Sailor Moon from talking, "Aye…since you're here…Black T Rex, seal the exit! We can get rid of these girls now!" The giant T Rex complied, swiping its tail at a few boxes, barricading the exit shut. "Now, take care of those scouts!"

Sailor Mercury brought her hands to her chest, then spun around once, "Shine Aqua Illusion!" She fired off an aurora colored beam of water towards the T-Rex, however, it just opened up its mouth, and swallowed the attack, making a relieved sigh after words. "W-WHAT!? I-It drank my attack!" Mercury's jaw dropped slightly, in complete shock this T-Rex was even able to do something like that.

Venus quickly stepped in, pointing her finger forward as she rested an arm on her finger. Her finger gave off a bright golden glow before a golden beam was fired off, "Crescent Beam!" Much to Venus' dismay, the T-Rex brought up its tail as defense, the Crescent Beam only making a small burn mark on its tail. "N-No way!"

"Split up!" Sailor Moon commanded, however, before the girls could comply, the T-Rex swung its tail vertically, smacking into all the Sailor Scouts, knocking them into the wall, almost breaking the wall itself.

"Nice reflexes!" O'Chunkten grinned victoriously, "Now, finish them off!"

"HALT!" Said a voice from above.

"What?" O'Chunkten and the T-Rex looked up from the sound of the voices, and much to his surprise, there stood three familiar shapes.

"We will not allow your crimes against these people go unpunished!" Sailor Z shouted, pointing a finger at O'Chunkten.

"We, Sailors X Y and Z shall put an end to your evil plot!" Y's statement was very serious indeed, however she had a slight cough between the words "we" and "sailors".

"In the name of the stars!" X started, smirking widely.

"We will punish you!" Z grinned.

"X Y and Z?!" Mars looked up in shock.

"How did you…!?" O'Chunkten started, but he then looked behind them, noticing the broken window, "Clever lasses…Black T-Rex, finish them off too!" The Black T-Rex, complied, spitting up the water it drank just earlier, only this time it came back up in an acidic substance.

"Move!" Z demanded. She and the other two jumped out of the way of the incoming acidic substance, surprised at how deadly it actually was once when they saw the platform they were standing on bubbling after it melted.

Mars stood up, tracing her fingers in a circle, "Burning…!"

"No ya don't!" O'Chunkten quickly hopped up, hitting the ceiling with his fist, causing rubble to fall on the Inner Senshi, not enough to bury them, but enough to the point where they couldn't move.

"Star shot!" Sailor Z fired off a decently sized star at the T-Rex's chest, causing it to stumble back a tiny bit after contact.

Outside the building, Mako was finally making her way back to the place. "That took longer than I thought it would," She said to herself, then looked around a bit in surprise, as she didn't see anyone nearby. "I AM in the right place…right?" She attempted to open the door, but to her surprise, it was locked. "What…?" Mako looked to her left, and saw A male with orange hair, a slightly rounded face, brown eyes, blue pants, shirt, and shoes, was pacing around the building, mumbling profanities about how he couldn't get inside. "Why is this door locked?" She asked the male.

"I don't know, but I NEED to get inside…" The male responded.

"Me too!" Mako replied. "My friends are in there." After a few seconds of standing around, a loud scream of pain could be heard from the other side of the door, along with a voice screaming "Sailor Z!"

"What was that!?" The male asked.

"My friends are in danger!" Mako then recklessly started to shoulder tackle the door in order to get it open.

"What are you doing!?" The male asked once again, completely surprised a female had the audacity to do something so reckless.

"I have to get in there!"

O'Chunkten was laughing victoriously at the fact the nine Sailor Scouts were unable to move due to being buried. "Yes, this is perfect! Finish them!" The T-Rex rose its tail and prepared to swing it down, but a red rose streaked by, cutting its tail, and forced it to back away. "WHAT NOW!?" O'Chunkten looked up, spotting Tuxedo Mask.

Moon and Chibi Moon were able to look up to see their masked hero, grinning widely, "Tuxedo Mask!"

"Those who attempt to harm these servants of justice must deal with me. I will deliver the rose of justice down onto your evil plans!" As Tuxedo Mask finished, the door bursts open and Mako ran through the door. The male tried to follow but he bounced back as a dark barrier prevented him entry. "Makoto?"

Before Tuxedo Mask could do anything else, O'Chunkten formed a dark rope in his hands, the lassoed it around Tuxedo Mask, tugging him to the ground on his side, "Get her!"

Sailor Moon's eyes widened and she attempt to squirm free, "Mamo-chan! Mako-chan!"

"Jupiter Sta-" Before Mako was able to pull her transformation pen out; the T-Rex wrapped its tail around her, causing her to drop it as it constricted her tightly, and lifted her into the air. O'Chunkten hopped onto the T-Rex's tail, walking on it slowly to Mako.

"I-I can't move!" Venus shouted, trying her absolute best to free herself.

"I-I can't either!" Mars groaned, starting to panic for the wellbeing of her dear friend.

"Sailor Y, do something!" Z commanded.

"I-I can't move my arms!" Y shouted, started to have a mini cough attack due to the remains of her sickness.

As O'Chunkten neared Mako, he raised his hand, a dark aura forming, "NO!" Moon shouted, "LEAVE HER ALONE!"

O'Chunkten ignored Sailor Moon's pleas, and stuck his hand into Mako's chest, causing her to scream out loudly in pain. This reaction was different from all the others, however; as dark electricity started sparking around his hand. "Eh…?"

Sailor Moon started to tear, up, desperately attempting to push herself from the rubble, "STOOOP!"

O'Chunkten finally managed to pull his hand out of Mako's chest, and grinned. For what he pulled out wasn't a pink sphere, but in was a green flame. Mako's skin went pale as she went lifeless.

Sailor Z's eyes widened, "Th-That's a…!"

"I finally found one! A Pure Soul!" O'Chunkten grinned, extremely pleased that he finally found one.

Sailor Moon had a flashback, the horrid memory of the words about Pure Souls. If a soul is taken from a person, they died. Upon remembering this, she started to cry, tears streaming down her cheek. "NOO! GIVE IT BACK! PLEASE!"

"I finally found one! The Count's gonna be pleased with this!" O'Chunkten let out a hearty laugh, knowing that there wasn't a thing anyone could do to stop him.

.


	8. Chapter 8: The First Pure Soul

"STOP IT! STOP IT! GIVE IT BACK!" Sailor Moon thrashed around widely, attempting to free herself from the rubble that held her still, tears flowing down her cheeks, as she was unable to free herself.

O'Chunkten simply turned his upper body slightly, wagging his finger on his free hand, "Sorreh lass, but dis is a Pure Soul, and I'm pretty sure ya know how important these things are."

"But that's my friend! Please!" She spoke as she cried; amazed she even had the strength to talk.

"Makoto…" Sailor Z mumbled under her breath.

O'Chunkten turned to the lifeless shell of Makoto, "Aye, you'll be fine without her. Now then, it's time we be off, eh?"

"NO!" Sailor Moon struggled to free herself, somehow managing an arm out as she started to push herself free.

O'Chunkten let out a hearty laugh at Sailor Moon's attempts; "Yer too late, lass, yer too late," just at that moment, a blue streak flew by his hand, cutting it as he released the Pure Soul in his grip, "WHAT THE!?" A small portion of the Pure Soul slowly made its way back into Mako's body, causing her skin to return to its normal tan color; before any more of the Soul could return into Mako's body O'Chunkten quickly grabbed it. O'Chunkten looked around to see what it was that hit him, spotting a blue rose on the floor nearby. "W-What the…?"

"That's a blue rose…!" Sailor Y gasped.

"That means…!" Sailor X looked around, spotting the one, the only, Masked Crusader at the window.

"Vile villain who would seek to tear out the Pure Soul of an innocent girl...your time is up!" Masked Crusader turned, his cape blowing behind him, "I will not allow those who take the purity of an innocent girl's soul to go unpunished! In the name of justice, I, the Masked Crusader, shall punish you!"

"Masked Crusader!" The Sailor Scouts shouted in unison. Without another word, Masked Crusader threw a rose towards Tuxedo Mask, cutting the rope than bound him; Tuxedo Mask then jumped up beside Masked Crusader, the two now back to back.

"Agh! I don't have time for this!" O'Chunkten groaned.

"No time to accept your punishment?" Crusader asked in a condescending tone.

"How typical of a villain," Tuxedo Mask started, "Always have time for your evil deeds, but no time to accept the consequences that come with them!" Both he and Crusader held their roses up, ready to throw.

"You two REALLY think you can defeat me with…roses…?" O'Chunkten stifled his laughter for a second before bursting into another hearty laugh. Without a word, the two rose throwers threw their roses forward simultaneously; the two roses together had enough power to slice the T-Rex's tail off, causing it to fade into nothing as Mako fell to the floor. "Wah!" The T-Rex roared in pain from its severed tail, "Time to get outta here…!" O'Chunkten then teleported away along with the injured T-Rex.

The girls didn't care about O'Chunkten at the moment, the only thing they cared about was Makoto; they finally managed to free themselves and they rushed over towards Makoto, "Mako-chan?! MAKO-CHAN!" Sailor Moon held Mako tightly in her arms, her tears slowing down slightly.

A few hours later, O'Chunkten returned to Castle Dark, the grinning as wide as he was able to.

"O'Chunkten, you have returned," Dark started, "How did things go?" O'Chunkten didn't respond; he only grinned widely.

"Spit it out!" Mimi yelled, "Geez, you look like an idiot by grinning like that!"

"I agree," Dimentio nodded, "If you have something to say, say it."

O'Chunkten nodded, holding his hand out, the Green Pure Soul floating in his hand, "GUESS WHAT!" Everyone's jaw dropped to the floor.

"I-IS THAT A…!?" Natanasia spoke from pure shock.

"N-NO WAY!" Mimi gasped loudly from shock.

"This is unbelievable!" Dimentio commented.

"You found a Pure Soul…" Dark smirked widely. O'Chunkten grinned, letting the Pure Soul float over to the Count.

"I didn't think you would actually find one…!" Mimi stated.

"And, as an added bonus, I even brought back the T-Rex, but it's kinda injured through…" O'Chunkten stated.

"I can fix that," Nastansia nodded, "But WOW!"

A pleased grin appeared on Dark's lips, "O'Chunkten, you have done an excellent job. My confidence in you is completely restored; you deserve a break."

"Does that mean Dimentio and I can go out now!?" Mimi asked with a huge grin.

"No," Dark stated bluntly, causing Mimi to make a face, "O'Chunkten can take the next day off; besides, I need to do a few things. First, find more targets, and second I need this Pure Soul scanned."

A questioning look appeared on Dimentio's face, "Scanned? This is a real deal, correct?"

Dark nodded, "Yes, but I want to see just what kind of information we can extract from it."

"Count, you can leave that to me," Nastansia chimed in, "It make take a while, but I can promise it will be done as soon as possible."

Dark nodded as he allowed the Pure Soul over to Nastansia, "As for the rest of you, you can relax for the rest of the day, seeing as how we now have 1 of 7 Souls in our hands. I'll let you know when I find a good target."


	9. Chapter 9: A New Enemy Appears?

Just after the events of Makoto's Pure Soul being stolen by O'Chunkten, the group quickly made their way over to Usagi's house, as it was much closer than Hikawa Shrine. Usagi placed Mako to rest upstairs in her room as the rest of the group met in the living room. Rei crossed her arms, glaring at Anna, Kate, Grace, and Marcus, "So, why did you come to that building? Was it for Mako-chan's Pure Soul?" She asked, her tone curious, yet threatening if the answer the four gave happened to be yes.

"We didn't know she had a Pure Soul," Grace started, making direct eye contact with Rei, "We were hoping she didn't, as for the rest of you."

Luna, feeling that since the secrets were already coming out, decided she would talk, "Are you telling us the truth?"

Marcus blinked, looking down at Luna with the most shocked, yet confused face, "Before I answer that…did that cat just talk?"

"Yes, now answer the question," Minako demanded.

"What did you really come for?" Usagi asked, looking up at the four.

Kate coughed just faintly, her illness showing signs of recession, "We came to save you guys…" The group of Inner Senshi were clearly taken aback by this.

"Y-You came to save us?" Ami asked curiously, making sure, she heard that correctly.

Mamoru raised an eyebrow, eying the four curiously, doubtfully, "But why?" He asked, "We came to the conclusion that you couldn't be trusted, and I assume you all came up with that very same conclusion, did you not?"

"I still stand by that," Marcus replied, straight to the point.

"Then why did you save us?" Rei asked.

"Oh, trust me, I wasn't there to save you," Marcus replied, waving a hand dismissively at the black haired girl, "My job is to protect X Y and Z, so you should be redirecting your question to them."

Chibiusa looked over at the three girls; they looked oddly shy, out of their comfort zone, "Why did you save us…?" She asked curiously, knowing that both groups were skating on thin ice.

"I can speak for all of us when I say this…" Anna started, "But, we like you. We trusted you guys before we even found out your secret, and honestly, we still want to."

"What do you mean…?" Usagi asked, hoping that this was going in the direction she thought it was.

"We mean…" Anna started, but before she could continue, she stopped due to light footsteps coming from the stairs. "Hm?" Anna, and everyone else turned around, spotting Mako holding her head as she walked down the stairs, her hand on the railing for support.

"Mako-chan!" Usagi sprang up from the couch and hugged Mako tightly.

"U-Usagi-chan…h-hey…not so tight…" Mako groaned softly, her body still in an odd state of shock.

"Mako-chan, are you alright?" Rei asked worriedly.

"Are you sure you don't need more rest?" Artemis asked, tilting his head.

"…Did that cat just talk too?" Marcus blinked, his eyes widened slightly.

"Yes," Minako stated, "His name is Artemis, but that's beside the point. Mako-chan, how are you feeling?"

"Dizzy…lightheaded…" Mako replied. Usagi helped Mako into a seat.

"You might need some medicine for that," Ami nodded, "Luckily, I know a place!"

"Wait a minute," Kate interrupted.

"What?" Rei asked. Kate, along with Anna and Grace, stuck her hand out for a handshake. After a few minutes of silence, Usagi and her friends shook hands with Grace, Kate, and Anna, signifying a truce.

"Ah man, I guess that means I'm in too…" Marcus laughed slightly.

"Now that it's settled, who wants to go to the store and get some medicine for Mako-chan!" Ami nodded, smiling widely.

"Oh, oh, I do!" Usagi raised her hand, hopping up and down.

"I want to go too!" Kate smiled, holding her hands behind her back, "We gotta start somewhere, right?"

"I'll go with you guys," Minako nodded.

"I'll come too," Mako smiled weakly.

"I think you need rest more than anything right now, Makoto," Marcus said sternly.

"I'm fine," Mako replied as she stood up, a bit wobbly, but she didn't fall over, giving Marcus a smug smile.

"Fine, fine," Marcus put his hands up in surrender.

"Make sure to leave the door unlocked for when my mom and Shingo get home, okay?" Usagi looked over her shoulder, speaking to the ones who remained behind.

"I'll make sure of that," Grace replied, smiling at the fact she can be friends with the group once again, and that they were on the same side.

"Oh!" Usagi quickly ran back to Grace and whispered in her ear, "Don't let Chibiusa get too close to Mamo-chan, okay?" She nodded to herself and quickly exited her house alongside the others, leaving Grace in a confused state.

"O…Kay?" She could only scratch her blonde hair in confusion, just shrugging it off anyway.

The streets weren't as crowded as they normally were around this time of day; it was late afternoon, early night, however. It didn't seem as though word had traveled about the incident just a few hours before. Mako seemed to be fine, as she was walking straight without any sort of problems, but that didn't wash away the worry Usagi and the other girls had over her.

"The pharmacy is around here somewhere, right?" Kate asked while looking around.

"Mhm, just a few more blocks ahead," Ami replied, extending her arm as she pointed a finger forward. The group continued walking until a scream cut their concentration.

"W-What was that!?" Minako asked.

"It came from over there…!" Mako pointed into the alleyway; the girls quickly ran into the alley way, spotting O'Chunkten sticking his hand into a woman's chest, attempting to pry out another Pure Soul. "I-It's him…" Mako's eyes widened as her face went blue.

"We can't just stand here…!" Ami whispered to the girls, who all nodded, "Mercury Star Power…!"

Minako held her hand up, her orange transformation pen appearing in her hand. "Venus Star Power!"

"Jupiter Star Power…!" Mako held her hand up as her transformation pen appeared in her hand.

"Y Star Power!" Kate pulled out her transformation pen.

"Moon Cosmic Power…"

"Make-Up!"

O'Chunkten just finished prying only a pink sphere from the woman's chest, sighing out of disappointment. "Aye…nothin' like yesterday, eh?"

"Hold it right there!" Sailor Moon demanded. O'Chunkten didn't even drop the body, he just turned his head at the girls, laughing a little.

"Oh? Look who decided to show up, eh? I'm feelin' rather confident about things after yesterday!" O'Chunkten chortled, his deep voice filled with joy.

"You're going to pay for what you did yesterday!" Jupiter said with a scowl.

"Eh?" O'Chunkten eyed Jupiter curiously, "What are yeh gettin' so riled up about lass? You weren't even there yesterday! Ah well, I don't have time for ga-" before O'Chunkten could finish his sentence, it seemed as though time slowed down; a figure had blind-sided O'Chunkten, striking him square in the jaw, causing O'Chunkten to fly into the brick wall, dropping the pink sphere and causing a dent. The girls stood there in awe. The one who did this immediately picked up the soul without even glancing at it, then turned around. The figure was a male with orange hair, his facial features could not be seen as he was wearing a mask that covered his face, but had eye sockets so he could see; he was also wearing a short sleeved red shirt with a sword wrapped over his shoulder, and black pants and boots.

"W-Who are you…" Venus choked out quietly, still in shock at the little trouble this person had in knocking O'Chunkten out, even if it was a sneak attack.

"Akuro," he said quietly, "I've heard of you, Sailor Scouts. If you were wise, you wouldn't interfere," without another word, he leaped high into the air, and onto the roof of the building.

"W-Wait!" Sailor Moon attempted to call out to him, "He took the pink sphere!"

"How are we going to go after him!?" Mercury cried, looking for a way to ascend to the rooftops.

Sailor Y opened her hand, placing it on the ground, "Gravity, of course!" She lowered the gravity of her and the other four scouts, lifting them off into the air; she then returned the gravity to normal as the five reached the roof. Akuro turned around, surprised at their tenacity.

"I thought I told you not to interfere…" Akuro shook his head slowly, sighing deeply, "I don't wish to have conflict with you girls, but if you continue to chase me, I will attack."

"I'll get him…!" Jupiter clapped her hands together as electricity danced around her body; as she pulled her hands apart, electricity flowed seamlessly through the gap in her hands, "Sparkling Wide Pressure!" She brought her hand back, then hurled the energy disk at the masked Akuro; who glared at the incoming energy disk. But…the disk was way off target as it suddenly spiraled into the sky, "W-What…!?"

"What just happened…?" Sailor Moon's eyes widened.

"What did you do!?" Sailor Y shouted; but Akuro shook his head as if to say he didn't do anything.

"I'll get him this time…!" Jupiter gained a determined look in her eyes as she crossed her arms, the point of her tiara growing into a rod as it started to gather electricity.

"She seems serious this time…" Akuro thought to himself, readying himself for whatever attack she was planning.

"Supreme Thunder!" She released all the electricity that she gathered in her tiara, sending it all towards Akuro…but it suddenly spazzed and dispersed before it made contact with him, leaving the scouts in shock.

"Well this is clearly a waste of time…" Akuro sighed, but Jupiter had already run into close ran, deciding to go up close and personal with Akuro; no one knew of his abilities just yet, but the Scouts assumed he was the reason Jupiter's attacks missed. Much to everyone's surprise, Jupiter's punches weren't making contact, her fist whizzed past his head; and he wasn't even moving. "I've had enough of you…" Akuro quickly opened his palm, catching one of Jupiter's fist; he then proceeded to throw her onto the ground near the Scouts.

"Jupiter!" Venus sneered, a golden chain surrounding her body, "Venus Love Chain Encircle!" She pointed her finger, forward, sending the chain wrapping around Akuro's leg; she then attempted to pull him in, "Give that soul back!"

"Pest…" Akuro reach back, gripping the hilt of the sheathed sword; he slowly drew the blade out of its sheathe; the blade was, sharp, and its silver color would reflect off the sun if it was high broad daylight. Akuro raised his sword and slashed through the Venus Love Chain, causing Venus to fall back.

"Gah!" Venus winced, slowly standing up.

"I have an idea!" Mercury grinned, "Bubble Spray!" She twirled around and sent a flurry of bubbles towards Akuro.

"Pitiful…" Akuro held his hand out, an icy wind coming from the palm of his hand, "Icicle Crash," and with that, several ice spears shot out from his hands, popping the bubbles before they could be used for their intended purpose.

"Oh no way!" Mercury's mouth dropped at the sight of her attack being blocked so easily.

"I'll take care of him," Sailor Moon pulled out her Moon Spiral Heart Rod, which peaked Akuro's interest just slightly.

"That's an intriguing weapon she has there…" Akuro mumbled to himself, his blade at the ready.

"Moon…" Sailor Moon then began to twirl around, "Spiral…Heaaaaaaart…" As she spoke, she lowered onto her knees as she held the Spiral Heart Rod high, "ATTACK!" She stopped, resting her hand on her hip as a large pink heart shot out towards Akuro. However, to everyone's surprise, Akuro used his sword and slashed through the heart; cutting it in to before it could even reach him, causing Sailor Moon's face to turn blue as her eyes widened. Akuro has already shown that he wasn't normal, and there was no way that sword of his was normal. "!"

"That's the best you can muster? I fail to see how you saved the world…" Akuro glanced at his hand, noticing he was holding a pink sphere, "AH!" He shook his head, feeling like an idiot, "How could I make such a stupid mistake!?" He tossed the pink sphere over to the Scouts and quickly vanished from sight.

"…WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!" Sailor Y blurted out, completely confused and in shock from the events that just took place. The Scouts returned the Pure Soul to the woman in their civilian form. O'Chunkten had left the scene while the Scouts were battling Akuro; the girls then proceeded to continue their way to the pharmacy, however, things were different.

"Who was that guy…?" Kate tapped her chin, "He was really strong…"

"We can't seem to catch a break, can we?" Minako sighed, then looked over at Mako as she sniffled once.

"Mako-chan…?" Ami eyed her friend curiously yet worriedly.

"I couldn't do anything…" Mako mumbled just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"W-What?! You did do something!" Usagi huffed, attempting to halt anymore bad thoughts from entering Mako's mind.

"What do nothing? He made me look like a joke…a failure…how can I be your guardian if that keeps happening…?"

"Mako-chan, we all have bad days…" Minako said reassuringly. "He was strong…none of our attacks really did anything…"

"No, save it," Mako objected, "I should've known after yesterday…this is a sign…"

"A sign?" Kate asked, her head tilting.

Tears started to well up in Mako's eyes, "If I continue to be a Sailor Scout...I'll only bring you guys down…" Her voice cracked slightly as she was uttering words she never thought she would.

"W-What!?" Usagi's eyes widened, as she shook her head no frantically.

"I'm sorry," Mako turned her head away as a tear fell from her eye, "I can't be with you guys…anymore…"

"That's crazy talk!" Ami objected, extremely out of character.

"I'm sorry…" Mako quickly ran off, despite her friend's call to get her back; was this really the end of her duty as a Sailor Scout?"

Akuro stood on a tall building, his arms crossed as he thought himself, "That Jupiter girl is rather strong…I don't understand why her attacks were acting like that. I know she would've been able to put up a decent fight had her attacks landed…I've always heard whenever a person's Pure Soul is taken away it takes an extended amount of time for their bodily functions to work properly…but I would've remembered if she was a target…Hm…I'll have to keep an eye on those Sailor Scouts now, it appears we have ourselves a three way battle…"


	10. Chapter 10: A Song of Doom

Count Dark had a puzzled expression on his face as he examined O'Chunkten, "O'Chunkten…" he started slowly, "What is that on your face…?"

O'Chunkten rubbed his cheek with the palm of his beefy hand slowly, removing his palm to show the mark on his cheek, "Oi, you mean this?" He asked, mostly for confirmation.

Mimi, who was wearing a black jacket and blue jeans, covering her eyes with sunglasses and her hair with a sunhat, tilted her head slowly, leaning forward to O'Chunkten's face, squinting her eyes to get a better look, "It…It looks like a…boot mark?"

"Aye, that's because it is!" O'Chunkten exclaimed.

"Oh? Did those Sailor Scouts finally manage to get a hit on you?" Dimentio asked in a somewhat mocking tone.

"Not at all!" O'Chunkten scoffed, the very idea of those dainty teenage girls in high heels and miniskirts actually landing a hit on him seeming impossible at best, "I was about to return teh targets soul because it was a dud, when suddenly this weird guy blindsided meh and sent meh through a damn wall!"

"Hold on a moment…" Dark started, "Someone, not allied with the Sailor Scouts, attacked you?"

"That's not even all of it, Count," O'Chunkten continued, "The buggah even had teh never to take the Pure Soul, even though it was a dud!"

"It seems we may have a new player in this game, Count," Dimentio suggested, snickering to himself at the mere thought.

"Indeed, Dimentio," Dark nodded, "It's bad enough our progress is attempting to be halted by a group of teenage girls, but now there is someone else hunting for the Pure Souls? Why can't things ever go smoothly?"

"If it was easy it wouldn't be any fun, Count!" Mimi nodded, giggling at the thought, "Once we crush those Sailor Scouts and that other guy, the world will be ours for the taking!"

"I do think the idea of a challenge is rather fascinating, Count," Nastansia nodded, adjusting her glasses with two fingers.

"Hm, yes, perhaps," The Count nodded, "I have the target ready for tomorrow, but until then, get some rest, everyone."

"I have a Monsuta that will  
be perfect for this job anyway," Nastansia nodded, walking off to her lab.

.

.

The following day, about midafternoon, Usagi, Chibiusa, Grace, and Rei were all invited, by Kate, to the Juuban Concert hall to watch her practice performance before the big concert tomorrow. During Kate's performance, Usagi leaned over to Grace, whispering over to her, "Wow…I had no idea Kate could sing…!"

Grace smirked slightly, returning the whisper, "Yeah, she's amazing, isn't she?"

"She could almost be on par with me," Rei commented.

"You sing, Rei?" Grace looked over at Rei with a surprised, yet interested look.

"Mhm," Rei nodded, crossing her legs, as she didn't take her eyes off Kate.

"Her voice is great though…!" Chibiusa commented.

"Sssh!" Grace waved an arm excitedly, "Here comes her big part!" The other singers quieted down as Kate was required to hit a high note, which she did so beautifully, thus ending the practice. After Kate finished, a woman wearing a classical musical conductors outfit, and her brown hair tied into a bun stepped forward, clapping her hands excitedly.

"Bravo, bravo!" The woman grinned, congratulating all of the singers, "You all did excellent! We finished things a bit early today, so you all can go home and get some rest!"

"Let's meet her outside," Chibiusa suggested. Afterwards, the girls all walked outside, meeting an ecstatic Kate at the front doors.

"Did you guys like my singing?" Kate asked, a bit nervously as she felt she screwed up on that last note.

"Fantastic as always," Grace said with a smile.

"You were amazing!" Usagi's eyes sparkled slightly.

"I like it, almost on par with me," Rei nodded, smiling.

"You were great!" Chibiusa grinned, nodding her head a few times.

"Thanks!" Kate grinned, letting off a sigh of relief as she started walking, motioning for the girls to follow, "Ms. Cooke is really excited for this! She's been keeping us all pumped for it too!"

"I bet you'll do great!" Usagi said with an encouraging voice.

"I hope so—Oof!" Kate accidently bumped a passing female's shoulder, "O-Oh, I'm sorry!"

The female slowly turned around, "N-no, it's oka-." The female stopped mid-sentence once she realized whom it was who bumped into her.

"M-Mako-chan!" Chibiusa looked at the depressed former Scout with worry.

"Oh…Hey…" Mako didn't sound all that happy to see her friends, as she hung her head down slightly.

"Where were you…?" Grace asked, "We didn't see you at school today…"

"I was at home…I wasn't feeling too well, that's all," Mako sighed, not making eye contact with any of the girls in front of her.

"…Hey, Makoto," Kate spoke up slowly, a smile forming across her face, "I'm having a concert tomorrow night, how about you come and watch?"

Mako paused for a moment, pondering the idea in her head for a few minutes before nodding slowly, "Sure, I'll come; it'll help take my mind off of things…"

"Great!" Kate clapped her hands excitedly, "I'll just-" Her eyes suddenly widened as she started to panic, "W-Where is it? Nonononononononnononono!"

"Eh…?" Rei tilted her head just slightly, a tad confused at why Kate was suddenly panicking, "Everything okay, Kate?" She asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"I left my puuuuuuuuuuuurse…." Kate groaned and pouted, before perking up, "Oh, I left it back at the Concert hall, silly me!" Before anyone else could get a word in, Kate quickly turned on her heels, then sprinted back to the concert hall.

"Why do I have the feeling she'll probably get herself hurt?" Chibiusa thought aloud, toying with one of the pink rabbit ear shaped buns on her hair.

"Because she's Kate," Grace sighed, starting to walk in the direction Kate sprinted off at, "Come on, she might trip like Usagi or something."

"HEY!" Usagi huffed and crossed her arms, pouting as she looked at the street.

.

.

O'Chunkten stepped inside the Concert hall, allowing the door to slam shut behind him, alerting whoever was inside to become aware of his presence; O'Chunkten glanced over at the picture, a picture of Ms. Cooke, the Musical Conductor for the concert for the following night. "I hope da lass is still here…I really don't feel like lookin' for 'er." O'Chunkten walked into the main room, looking down the large row of chairs and onto the stage; to his surprise, there was a woman there. "Hm?" He walked down two the stage, the woman on the stage looking similar to the one on the picture; this had to be the target. To O'Chunkten's luck, it was, and he spent no time grabbing Cooke by her collar as a dark aura started to surround his hand, "Alright, let's make this a quick one, eh?" He stuck his hand into Cooke's chest, causing her to shriek out in pain.

Just then, Kate had just walked onto the stage after finding her gray purse, sighing happily that it wasn't stolen, "That was close…" The pained shriek immediately caught her ears as she looked over to see O'Chunkten, "H-He's here?!" Without thinking, she recklessly charged forward, swinging her purse as O'Chunkten, screaming, "Let her GO!"

"Aye, what a bug…!" O'Chunkten removed his hand from Cooke's body, then proceeded to backhand Kate, sending her into the wall and knocking her out, "Yeesh, what's up with the annoyin' teenage girls as of late…Mimi's the only sane one around these days I swear…" He sighed, and then proceeded the Pure Soul extraction process once again since he was so rudely interrupted. As he finished removing the Pure Soul, a commanding voice told him to halt, "Oh…don't'cha tell meh…" O'Chunkten turned, only to see Sailors Moon, Chibi Moon, Mars, and Z.

"Stealing the harmonic soul of one who loves music is an unforgivable action!" Sailor Moon shouted from atop the room, "The pretty suited sailor when the Sailor Senshi, Sailor Moon!"

Chibi Moon jumped up, a serious look on her face, "And I am Sailor Chibi Moon! And in the name of the moon, we will punish you!" She said this last part in unison with Sailor Moon.

"Oi, you lasses sure are persistent…" O'Chunkten sighed, snapping his fingers, a humanoid creature with a harp sticking from their midsection appearing, "Black Harp, just…do whatever with these people." O'Chunkten dropped Cooke's body, allowing the soul to float back into her body as he teleported away.

Mars looked over to Mako, who was hiding in between a row of chairs, "Stay safe, Mako-chan, we can handle this." Mako simply nodded as a response.

"Would you ladies like a shot at my finely tuned strings~?" The Harp asked in a musical voice.

"Uh…what?" Z tilted her head in confusion.

"I think he's asking us to hit him…" Chibi Moon guessed.

"I'll take care of it then!" Mars traced her finger in a clockwise motion, a travel of fire slowly following her path; she then placed her hands in front of her, as multiple symbols appeared, "Burning Mandala!" Several rings of fire traveled towards the Black Harp, only to bounce off the strings, causing the girl's eyes to widen, "W-What!?" The Scouts quickly hit the deck as the rings of fire flew over their heads.

"Anyone else want to give it a shot?" The Black Harp strummed its own strings beautifully, but the sound it created was an ear splitting screech, causing the girls to place their hands over their ears in attempt to block out the sound, "If it doesn't work, that sound is only going to get worse~."

"Pink Sugar Heart Attack!" Chibi Moon held her tiny wand forward, radiant pink hearts shooting out from it; the hearts bounced off the strings and onto Chibi's head, causing her to stumble back a bit, "Ow ow ow! Is THAT how it feels?!"

"That's twice; two strikes and you're out!" The Black Harp started strumming its strings again, letting out a soothing tone instead of the ear splitting noise.

"This is…so relaxing…" Z's eyes slowly started to get heavier as she yawned.

"I could fall asleep…" Sailor Moon yawned herself, curling into a ball on the floor.

"W-What's going on…" Mako peered over the chairs at the Harp; she couldn't' feel anything but the tension inside her body, "Why are they getting so tired…?"

"The sound of death is so relaxing, isn't it?" The Harp chuckled before its strumming sent musical notes forward towards the girls; however, the musical notes exploded on contact, sending the girls flying away.

"Ah!" Mako let out a yelp from surprise, her eyes widening, "T-That's not good…!" She thought about helping, but then she reminded herself that she would only get in the way, and make the situation worse; it was painful for her to just stand by and watch, but it was all she was capable of doing.

"Ouch…" Z stumbled onto her feet slowly, but quickly lost control of her body as the soothing tone repeated once again, "I can't even move my body to this…!"

"How do we fight this thing…!?" Mars grumbled through gritted teeth, attempting to force her arm forward so she could throw a spiritual tag at the Harp.

"You don't, that's the beauty!" The Harp gave a menacing chuckle before an icicle cut through the finely tuned strings, thus ending the tune, "W-What!?" The girls looked up, spotting the figure from the other day, Akuro.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Akuro stated before jumping down with his silver sword in hand, "You girls are obviously too weak to handle something such as this, and I won't allow this thing to roam around free, unlike you."

"H-Hey! You can't talk to us like that!" Z blurted out.

"Isn't that ironic…" Mars mumbled under her breath.

"Watch and learn, amateurs," Akuro held his blade forward, and in one swift motion, slashed diagonally.

"…I don't feel any-" Before the Black Harp could finish, it exploded into glorious light.

"One shot!?" Mars asked in amazement.

"You may as well throw in the towel if you can't handle something as weak as that…" Akuro shook his head before walking out the door.

"…Wow…" Z rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "Is that how it felt…?"

"Yeah," Moon, Chibi Moon, and Mars all said in unison. A few minutes later, Kate regained consciousness, and she was informed of the event that just took place. The following night, the concert took place and Kate ended with the beautiful high note she had been practicing, resulting in her getting a standing ovation.


	11. Chapter 11:Rush for Success!

In the large circular room of Castle Dark, the minions of Count Dark and the man himself began yet another meeting. "O'Chunkten," Count Dark started, "Did you have any more luck in finding a Pure Soul?"

The large burly man shook his head, "No, sire," he replied. "Seems I got lucky with finding that last one."

"How about those Sailor Scouts?" Dark asked. "Have they been disposed of get?"

The large ginger haired man gave a nervous laugh, shaking his head slowly; "Ahehe...not yet, Count..."

Dark glared from beneath his cap, his glare piercing into O'Chunkten's very soul, "Not yet?"

Mimi, who was now disguised as a blonde she saw in a magazine, sighed; "How tough can those girls be?! Honestly!"

"Stronger than ya think, lass!" O'Chunkten retorted in attempt to defend himself. "Just last week they defeated the...Ehm...doesn't matter!"

"Why don't you just take care of them yourself?" Dimentio asked. "You have the power to dispose of them easily, you know..."

"I still believe Nastansia's Monsutã's can handle the job just fine!" O'Chunkten nodded.

Nastansia's used two of her fingers to push her glasses up as she spoke, "All of my creations have been created to counter the moves you've seen those Sailor Scouts use, yet they are still being defeated..."

"Perhaps those girls are stronger than we originally thought them to be," Dark suggested. "No matter...O'Chunkten, I trust that you will get rid of them before they become too troublesome, yes?"

O'Chunkten have a firm nod, "Of course, sire."

"Perfect," Dark chuckled, opening his hand as a picture materialized in his black gloved hand. He then threw the picture at O'Chunkten, "Here is the next target. Deal with them as you see fit."

"Actually, I've been working in something that should be a nice help," Nastansia grinned slightly. "This Monsutã's a good one." She pushes her glasses up one more time before leaving to go to her lab.

O'Chunkten stroked his chin hairs, glancing at the picture of Minako Aino. "Have I seen this girl before...?"

.

.

It was a nice sunny day on the streets of Juuban. Luna was walking alongside Usagi and Minako. "How has Makoto been?" Luna asked, looking up at the two.

Usagi took a bite out of a doughnut she was eating and spoke in between bites, "She seems better."

Luna tilted her head in confusion, not understanding a word the blonde said. "I didn't understand a word of that, Usagi...This is why you should speak with your mouth empty..."

Minako sighed, "She said Mako-chan is better."

Usagi swallowed what she was chewing and nodded, "Mhm! She's been showing up to school for the past two weeks!"

"Has she transformed at all?" Luna asked, hoping for a positive answer.

A frown appeared on Minako's face as she shook her head slightly, "No, not all at since she quit...she's really holding onto her word..." Luna frowned, lowering her head. A few moments later, Mamoru pulled up in his red car with Chibiusa in shotgun.

"Why all the long faces?" Mamoru asked, "Did you run out of food, Usako?"

"Mamo-chan!" Usagi grinned excitedly, only for her grin to fade when she set eyes on her pink haired brat, "Chibiusa? Why are you THERE?"

Chibiusa smirked, "Oh, I didn't tell you that I asked Mamo-chan to pick me up from school today and he said yes?"

Usagi's left eye twitch somewhat, "W-What?"

"Oh? I thought she told you?" Mamo said. "Oh well. I'll be taking her over to my place so she can do her homework and no be distracted; then I'll drop her off." As Mamoru spoke, Chibiusa gave Usagi the "I have Mamo-chan all to myself!" look.

"You little...!" Usagi started.

"Now now, Usagi," Luna started. "Without Chibiusa or Mamoru to distract you, you'll have plenty of time to do your homework!" Usagi sighed heavily.

"Don't worry, I'll see you all later." Mamoru nodded and then drove off.

"Oh, you two, don't forget there's a meeting in the park tomorrow afternoon," Luna nodded.

"Oh, I almost forgot about that..." Minako shrugged and the group of three kept walking.

O'Chunkten was trailing behind the three, watching them carefully. "Aye, so that's the target? I should wait to make meh move...something about those two girls seems...off now that I think about it..." He shrugged, yawning loudly after, "Aye...I need some sleep...I better make this quick..."

The two girls continued to walk; as they neared the path where they normally split up, they spotted Makoto along the way. Usagi called out to her, "Hey, Mako-chan!"

The tall brunette waved over to the three as she walked over to the trio, "Hey guys!"

"How are you?" Minako asked.

"Better," Makoto replied, "You guys?"

"Chibiusa's with Mamo-chan..." Usagi spoke through gritted teeth while Makoto just giggled a little.

"We have a meeting tomorrow," Minako groaned, "Of course it would be on a Friday. I have like, no free time tomorrow."

Mako blinked, tilting her head to the side, "Meeting?"

"Oh, just Sailor stuff..." Usagi said, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

Mako nodded slowly, "Okay..."

O'Chunkten watched from the distance as the three girls conversed, rubbing his eyes and yawning slightly, "Eh? She's friends with that past target? Interestin'...why do those three remind meh of somethin'..." The burly male shrugged as he continued to keep an eye on them like a creepy stalker, but he didn't really care what he looked like as long as he got his job done.

"Don't let me keep you, I have to get home. See you guys later," Mako nodded, walking off as she gave the two a slight wave.

"She does seem to be getting better," Minako nodded.

"I'm still worried about her though," Luna replied, sighing lightly.

O'Chunkten yawned, closing his eyes for around fifteen seconds. We he opened his eyes, the two girls were gone. "Wait?! What!? Agh, I knew I shouldn't have blinked! Now I have to go and find her..."

.

.

The next afternoon at Juuban Park, Usagi, Ami, Anna, and Grace were waiting at a park bench on Minako. The girls were still in their school uniforms as they just came from school. Anna tapped her foot impatiently as she looked from side to side, moving her black hair from in front of her face every few minutes. "After school, right?" She asked, just for confirmation.

Usagi and Grace answered at the same time; "Yeah."

"Rei said she shouldn't be able to make it," Ami reported.

"Kate's studying pretty hard for that test next week, so I'll be surprised if she makes it. And I don't know where Marcus has been..." Grace said, casually tying her long brown hair into a pony tail.

"Chibiusa's with Mamo-chan..." Usagi said through clenched teeth.

"Makoto's not coming, so that only leaves Minako, right?" Grace asked.

"Yes, and we've been waiting for her for like...ten minutes..." Anna groaned; it was obvious she wasn't the most patient girl in the world.

"Usagi-chan and Minako-chan are a lot alike..." Ami giggled softly.

"I'm starting to see that..." Anna chuckled just a little bit.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!?" Usagi cried out among the giggling girls.

.

.

Minako just exited out of her school building, making a mad dash for the park with Artemis right beside her. "What happened?!" Artemis asked, "Why were you in there for so long?!"

"I uh..." Minako quickly thought of a response as she knew Artemis wouldn't exactly like her real answer, "I got detention?"Artemis looked up at her with a look that said he wasn't buying whatever she was selling. "Gah! Okay, fine! There was a boy I was talking to and I maaaaaay have lost track of time!"

Artemis could only sigh, "Well, we're late now! And I'm sure the others are waiting for us!"

Minako made a sharp left turn and ran down an large alleyway, "Don't worry, I know a shortcut!" She turned her head to smile reassuringly at the moon cat before bumping into something, stumbling back. "Ooof!" She looked up, spotting a familiar, large, burly man blocking the way.

"Aye, who would've thought you'd run into meh...literally..." O'Chunkten grinned.

"It's him!" Minako thought, taking a few steps back, but O'Chunkten just took a few steps forward.

"Where ya going, lass?" O'Chunkten asked with a devious grin.

"I'm sorry! I must've taken a wrong turn...yeah!" Minako gave a nervous smile as she prepared herself to sprint off in the opposite direction.

"Aye, not for meh, lass!" O'Chunkten snapped his fingers, a large black squid appearing behind the pair.

"A-Ah! What...what is that!?" Minako shrieked. The Black Squid shot one of its arms forward to wrap around Minako, but she quickly jumped to the side and avoided it. However, O'Chunkten wasted no time as he grabbed Minako by her collar and slammed her back against the wall.

"You brought that on yourself," O'Chunkten said. The Black Squid then wrapped its arms around Minako's arms and legs, keeping her pinned against the wall.

"Mina!" The white moon cat lunged forward with his claws out.

"Chill out, furball," O'Chunkten simply backed the cat into the side of a trashcan.

Artemis struggled to get up after the impact, "The others...Mina, I'll be right back!" Artemis turned around and darted away.

"D...did that cat just talk...?" O'Chunkten blinked as a puzzled expression came across his face, "That's it, I gotta lay off the beer after work..."

"Lemme go!" Minako attempted to kick, but her legs were tied down by the squid.

"Not yet, lass."

.

.

"Okay, where the heck is she...?" Grace asked, looking around.

"I would expect this kind of thing from Usagi..." Ami mumbled.

"I'm not always like this!" Usagi protested. Artemis then ran up to the girls, breathing heavily.

"Artemis!?" Anna gasped at the cat's condition, "What happened to you!?"

Artemis turned his body and nudged his head in the direction he came from, "T-The enemy is attacking her..." He wobbled on his legs because he could barely support his own body weight due to the hit he received not too long ago.

"Artemis!" Ami crouched down and picked up the white moon cat before he could fall over.

"That way!" Grace pointed, and then ran in the direction Artemis came from.

.

.

O'Chunkten held up his head, smirking as the dark aura slowly flared around it. "H-Hey! Lemme go!" Minako cried, struggling to free herself, "I don't have what you're looking for!"

"That has yet to be determined," O'Chunkten replied, sticking his hand inside Minako's body, causing her to cry out. A few seconds later, the girls arrived.

"Look!" Usagi pointed out the scene ahead.

"We have to transform!" Anna said, pulling out her purple transformation pen.

"We don't have any time!" Grace shouted, "By the time we finish-" She was cut off by the sparks that were appearing around O'Chunkten and Minako.

"W-What!?" O'Chunkten was nearly taken aback by this. Minako's eyes grew larger as her pupils vanished, the energy growing larger and larger by the second. "What's going on!?" Just then, a red rose streaked by his hand, forcing O'Chunkten to pull his and out prematurely and he looked up. "W-What the?!"

"Look...!" Usagi pointed up to the rooftop just near the alley way, "Tuxedo Mask!"

"Cornering an innocent girl to take away their purity within their soul is nothing but the act of a coward," Tuxedo Mask said, looking right at O'Chunkten.

"He's buying us time," Grace turned to the other girls. She pulled out her transformation pen, holding it out into the air, "Z Star power...!"

"X Star power..."

"Mercury Star power..."

"Moon Cosmic Power..."

"Make-up!"

"OI! Black Squid, show this cocky rose thrower a thing or two!" O'Chunkten demanded, and the Squid replied, dropping Minako and shot off one of its arms at Tuxedo Mask.

"Moon Tiara Action!" Sailor Moon flung her tiara like a Frisbee, cutting off the incoming arm, causing it to vanish before it could hit the masked savior.

"My god you girls AGAIN!?" O'Chunkten groaned.

"That's right!" Sailor Moon said, starting her speech, "And this time-"

"No, your speeches bore me," O'Chunkten groaned as he teleported away.

"I can handle this!" Sailor X said while pointing her hand forward, "Meteor Crash!" She fired off a small meteor at the Squid, who whipped an arm at the meteor, causing it to fly back at the girls, forcing them to split apart.

"It's pretty narrow when it's all of us in here..." Z stated, groaning just slightly.

"Shine Aqua Illusion!" Mercury sent a large beam of water towards the Squid. The attack hit, but there wasn't any visible damage. "Oh yeah...it's a squid..."

"Watch out!" Z tackled Mercury out of the way of an incoming arm, rolling onto her feet as she pointed a hand out, "Star Beam!" She sent off an array of stars at the Squid, causing the Squid to become disoriented. "Sailor Moon, now!"

"Right!" Sailor Moon pulled out her Moon Spiral Heart Rod, and started twirling around herself, holding the rod high in the air, "Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" She came to a sudden stop, holding the Rod high in the air as a flurry of hearts struck the squid, causing it to explode into a glimmer of light.

A few minutes after the attack, Minako regained consciousness, holding her chest with a pained expression, "What happened...?"

You got attacked... "Sailor Moon replied, "Artemis managed to make his way over to us before he passed out...Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah...I'm fine..." Minako nodded slowly.

On the rooftop of a distant building, Akuro mumbled to himself; "Dammit Tuxedo Mask...you jumped in too early...There was certainly something inside that girl, but it wasn't a Pure Soul..."


	12. Chapter 12: The One That Got Away!

Near the lake, a guy with blond hair, a green jacket and blue pants was staring out at the water sparkling from the lake. "Hm…what a nice day…" The male said to himself while watching the sparkling water.

Grace bounced up beside the male, nodding in agreement. "You can say that again.

The male turned his head, looking over at Grace with a confused looked. "Have we met before?"

Grace narrowed her eyes and looked from side to side. "Uh...we've passed by each other I'm sure..." She totally wasn't using this time to /try/ and flirt with a guy. Not at all. "So, uhm, my name is Grace Hikari. You?"

The male shrugged his shoulders slightly before responding. "The name's Noah."

Grace smiled brightly at Noah, giving a nod. "Nice to meet you, Noah!"

Noah nodded and returned the smile. "It's nice to meet you too, Grace."

O'Chunkten walked out from the trees and made his way over to the two, a silly grin plastered over his face. "Awh, how cute, two people gettin ta know each other."

At the sight of O'Chunkten, Grace immediately shifted into a defensive stance, groaning internally. "Are you kidding me!? Can't I try and flirt with a guy without any trouble!?" She thought to herself before turning her head to look at Noah. "Noah, stay back."

Noah looked at Grace, then at O'Chunkten with a confused look on his face. "Huh? Why?"

O'Chunkten waved a dismissive hand at Grace's orders, "Aye, don't listen to that lass over there, she's a bit screwed in the head I bet."

Grace's face turned red with anger, and he cheeks puffed out slightly. "Excuse me!?" She marched up to O'Chunkten and looked up at him to glare. "You did /NOT/ Just say that!"

O'Chunkten yawned while waving his hand in front of his nose. "Aye…you really need a breath mint…"

Grace checked her breath and her face was now red from a mixture embarrassment and anger. "Sh-shut up!" She huffed, resisting the urge to turn her head away because she knew what O'Chunkten was after.

O'Chunkten yawned, quite rudely at that, "Aye...You're just as annoyin as those Sailor Girls and their speeches..." O'Chunkten raised his hand, swinging the back of it at Grace, knocking her into the bushes nearby.

Noah's eyes widened slightly at what he just witnessed, unsure on how he should react to it. "G-Grace?!"

Grace flew into the bushes and scowled heavily, rubbing the side of her head. "So, that's how you want to play, huh...? Z Star Power...Make up!"

"Now that's she outta the way..." O'Chunkten started, taking a step towards Noah, who didn't back away. "Oh? Fear got yeh stuck? Good for me then." O'Chunkten reached his hand out as he attempted to grab Noah.

Noah shook his head slightly at O'Chunkten's words and actions. "Yeah, no." He ducked quickly, bringing his head up to head butt O'Chunkten's arm, causing him to flinch /slightly/.

O'Chunkten shook his arm after Noah's reckless head butt, smirking slightly. "Oh? Yeh wanna fight, eh" He snapped his fingers, causing a small black knight to appear from thin air. "Black Knight, show him what'cha got!"

"W-What the heck is that thing!?" Noah took a few steps back, obviously startled.

"Hold it!" A voice said from nearby.

"Eh?!" O'Chunkten looked around for the source of the voice, knowing in the back of his head how familiar it sounded.

Sailor Z hopped from the bushes to in between Noah and the Black Knight. "Jumping into a conversation without the consent of either person is just beyond rude! And you don't insult a girl's breath either! Pretty suited sailor with the Sailor senshi, Sailor Z! In the name of the stars, I shall punish you!"

O'Chunkten stared at Sailor Z with a shocked expression, surprised she was around to confront him so fast. "Where did you come from...!?"

Sailor Z smirked, "I always appear when the villains reveal themselves! I was hiding out in those bushes, waiting for you to reveal yourself!" She was totally winging this, but it was working as O'Chunkten had a minor sweatdrop on the side of his head

O'Chunkten shook his head slowly, giving a small smirk. "Clever girl...you knew this boy was the target then?"

Sailor Z gave a confident, yet fake nod. "That's right. And now that you're here, out in the open, I can defeat you once and for all!"

O'Chunkten's smirk widened at Sailor Z's confidence. "Heh, tell that to this Black Knight!" The Black Knight drew a sword and shield, "Tell ya what, lass, if you can beat this little guy, I'll fight ya."

Sailor Z grinned, "Heh...no problem." She turned back to face Noah. "Hey, this might get a little messy, so make a run for it while you still can." Noah nodded; he had no idea what was going on, but he went with it anyway.

"Aye, I'll get him later," O'Chunkten said to himself. The Black Knight rushed forward at Z with a three slash combo, all of which she avoided narrowly and while screaming her head off.

Sailor Z checked herself for cuts, her back, side, and front of her uniform had been slashed, but she wasn't harmed herself. "Geez...! Alright, Star shot!" Sailor Z aimed a palm forward and shot out a white star towards the Black Knight.

"Defense!" The Black Knight held out its shield, allowing the Star Shot to make contact with it; the shield successfully protected the Black Knight from any damage.

Sailor Z stood there with a semi confused expression. "Eh!?"

"Attack!" The Black Knight quickly brought out its sword and swiped at Z with amazing speed, cutting her arm before she had a chance to react, creating a gash in it, and causing her to cry out.

"O-Ow..." Z glanced at her arm, no doubt, it was cut pretty badly. She could barely move it, so she gripped it with her other hand, taking a step back as she realized her current situation.

O'Chunkten yawned, hiding his minor surprise at how quickly that went. "Yeesh, well that was short lived...Finish her off."

The Black Knight nodded respectfully. "Yes, sir!" It held its sword forward, running forward as it attempted to impale Z.

"Crescent Beam!" A yellow beam shot from behind Z and struck the Black Knight's hand, causing its sword to fly out of its hand.

Sailor Z looked behind her with widened eyes, noticing Sailors Moon, Mars, and Venus. "That attack!"

O'Chunkten sighed, knowing the cavalry had arrived. "Oh brother..."

Sailor Moon ran in front of Sailor Z, gasping at the cut on her arm. "S-Sailor Z, are you okay?!"

"That thing is pretty strong…" Z said with a pained voice.

Mars gave a reassuring nod. "Don't worry about us, Z! We can handle this!"

Venus also nodded, resting her hand on her arm as she pointed her finger at O'Chunkten.

O'Chunkten groaned, realizing he wasn't going to get much done in this current situation. "Agh, I don't have time for any of you…" And with that, he teleported the Black Knight out, its sword going with it. "I'll be back!" O'Chunkten then teleported himself out of the area.

The girls undid their transformation and they all looked at Grace's arm. "Are you okay!?" Usagi asked Grace with a high pitched voice. "We need to get you to a hospital!

Grace shook her head slowly. "I...I'll be fine..."

Rei frowned at Grace's denial, glancing at the cut once more. "That's a serious cut...you need to get that checked out."

Grace thought for a few minutes before getting an idea. "Oh, A-anna will know what to do! She's training to be a nurse!"

Minako blinked a few times, "Huh, no wonder her and Ami-chan get along. They have similar goals..."

Grace nodded, "After that, I'll bring her over and we'll talk about who the big guy is after now."

Rei nodded, making a mental note to herself. "Alright. We'll meet at the shrine."

Castle Dark:

Count Dark raised an eyebrow at O'Chunkten's early return. "O'Chunkten, you've returned far earlier than usual...did something happen?"

O'Chunkten nodded frantically. "Yeh; that Sailor Z girl is onto meh!"

Mimi was wearing a dress, but disguised as a girl with blonde hair and purple eyes. "W-Whoa now...what?!"

"That girl is onto you?" Dimentio asked with a raised eyebrow.

Nastansia blinked a few times, looking over to the burly man. "How is this possible? What happened?!"

"Well…" O'Chunkten started, "...right before I even got to attack the target, she came outta nowhere! And she claimed that she was waiting for me to make meh move and that she knew that this boy," He pulled out the picture of Noah to show it to everyone, "Was the target!

Dark placed a hand under his chin, seeming to go into deep thought. "Was there anyone else around at the time...?"

O'Chunkten shrugged, vaguely remembering Grace's existence. "Jus' some lass; I got rid of her though."

Dark sighed somewhat. "Hmmm...This is very troubling...those Sailor Scouts are seriously beginning to become a major problem at this rate."

O'Chunkten nodded. "Yeh, and thanks to some other scouts showin' up, I couldn't chase after the target..."

Dark nodded in reponse to O'Chunkten's plight, and pointed his cane at him. "O'Chunkten, go back out and find the target, if anything happens, report back immediately, understand?"

O'Chunkten nodded respectfully to Dark, "Yes sire!" He then teleported out back to the field.

Nastansia looked over at Dark with a semi worried expression, "Do you really think those girls are on to us...?"

Dark shook his head. "No, that's near impossible. Not this early. She was bluffing, she had to be."

Dimentio looked over to Dark with a puzzled expression. "Then why didn't you say that to O'Chunkten?"

Dark smirked slightly towards his minions, "I want to see how he reacts to being on edge."

Mimi grinned at Dark's plan, clapping her hands together once. "That's our clever Count! 3"

Rei's Shrine:

Anna walked towards the group of Usagi, Grace, Minako, and Rei with her arms crossed, her cheeks puffed out slightly. "So, what's the big deal? Why did Grace come to me with a cut arm?"

Grace rubbed the back of her head sheepishly with her good arm, "Well, I found out who the big guy is after, and I tried to fight him as Sailor Z but his stupid Knight got the better of me..."

"Who's he after?" Minako asked, looking over at Grace.

"A cute guy named Noah," Grace replied with a nod.

Minako raised her eyebrow slightly, holding back the tiniest of smirks, "Oh?"

"…Don't get any ideas. The main idea is that we have to make sure he doesn't get targeted." Grace replied.

Usagi nodded in agreement. "Right...Where is he?"

"I uh...I told him to run...I don't know where he went though..." Grace sighed.

Rei gave a semi annoyed sigh, "Uh-huh..."

Grace flailed her arm, "Hey, I was in the middle of battle mode!"

Anna gave a gentle laugh at Grace's reaction, moving her hand to move some of her black hair from her face. "We understand. We'll just have to go and look for him."

Usagi gave a determined nod; "Right!" The girls stood up and exited the shrine, and began looking around town.

Noah was taking a walk around town, still trying to comprehend what happened earlier. "Saved by the legendary Sailor Z. Huh, I hope she didn't get hurt because of me..." He bumped into someone shortly after he spoke. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Mako waved her hand dismissively. "What? Oh no, it was my fault, I'm the one who should be sorry."

Noah shook his head, "I should still apologize; especially to a cute girl like yourself." Mako blushed lightly and smiled at his comment. Not too long after, the Black Knight slashed down a light post, causing the people walking along the streets to panic and shout out from fear, running off from the street.

Noah's eyes widened at the sight of the Black Knight. "Wha...it's that thing from before...!?"

Mako took a step back, her eyes widened slightly. "A-Ah!"

O'Chunkten walked up behind the Black Knight, dusting his hands off, "Aye, found yeh at last! And you're with that old victim? Small world. Black Knight, take care of the girl" Noah looked at Mako, who seemed to be scared out of her mind.

Mako was stuck on what to do; she was certainly going to keep her promise to herself and not transform, as she felt as though she would still get in the way. And even if she wanted to transform, Noah and O'Chunkten would see her, and that wouldn't end well. "I…I…"

The Black Knight jumped forward, its sword held out as it aimed for both Mako and Noah. "Yaaah!"

"Moon Tiara Action!" Sailor Moon's Tiara flew at the Black Knight, throwing it off course and caused it to land on the ground. Mako quickly ran over to Sailors Moon, Mars, X, and Venus. Grace was peering around the corner, waiting to see if she was going to have to help with an injured arm or not.

O'Chunkten groaned, turning to see the group of Sailors. "Ah, piss, really?! How'd yeh find meh!?"

"The amount of people fleeing from one direction wasn't a giveaway or anything," Sailor X said with a sarcastic tone.

"Enough chat!" Mars said, looking over at O'Chunkten with a glare.

O'Chunkten nodded, "I agree. Black Knight, take them on. I'll deal with him." He grinned at Noah and started walking towards him, while the Sailor Scouts were dealing with the Black Knight.

Grace took out her transformation pen, looking at the fight. "I have to get out there and help them...Z Star power..."

Mako shook her head as she walked to Grace. "No…Don't…"

Grace looked over at Mako with a confused look. "Mako-chan? What are you doing here?"

Mako ignored Grace's question as she went on, "You'll only get in the way with your injured arm. You won't be able to do as much without it."

Grace groaned in response, realizing that Mako was right. "Ugh…"

Mako continued, more so talking to herself than Grace at this point. "And besides, why rush? Your arm will heal eventually...even as you are now you aren't completely useless...your arm will heal, but my soul won't."

Grace frowned heavily, realizing that Makoto was still upset. "Mako-chan..."

"Burning Mandala! Mars traced her finger in a flaming circle, and then sent the rings of fire at the Black Knight, but it slashed them all in half with its sword, coming out of the assault unscathed. "Oh come on!"

Venus rested her hand on her arm, immediately firing off a yellow beam of energy towards the Black Knight. "Crescent Beam!"

"Defense!" The Black Knight held its shield up, allowing the beam to hit and deflect off elsewhere.

Venus stood there with a shocked expression on her face. "Wha!?"

"We have to strip it of that shield before we can do any real damage!" Sailor X shouted.

O'Chunkten grabbed Noah by his collar and lifted him up. "Heh, no more fightin' for yeh lad."

"Yea, no," Noah quickly brought his foot into O'Chunkten's stomach, and in the same motion brought his knee to O'Chunkten's chin, causing O'Chunkten to release him.

O'Chunkten grunted from the hits; he wasn't hurt at all, but he was highly annoyed a human had the audacity to attack him in such a way. "You little bastard!"

"Thanks Sailor Scouts," Noah grinned, knowing that it was best for him to escape, and he did just that.

O'Chunkten growled under his breath. "Dammit! He got away!" He was rubbing his chin from Noah's attack. "Heh, wasn't strong enough to leave a sting though. That tickled."

"How do we get rid of its shield...!?" Sailor Moon asked the others.

"You don't! Haahahaaha!" The Black Knight lifted both of its arms up, and then a blue streak flew past the arm holding its shield, making the shield vanish; a blue rose landed nearby.

"That rose!" Sailor X said with excitement.

Grace clapped her hands; "Finally!"

The Masked Crusader stood on a light post nearby, tipping his hat the girls. "Ahehe, sorry for the long absence, but, to make up for it, I come bearing a gift, a defenseless enemy! Sailor Moon!"

Sailor Moon grinned before nodding; "Right!" She prepared the Moon Spiral Heart Rod and started spinning around, "Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" She stopped spinning, sending a flurry of hearts that engulfed the Black Knight and turned it into a ball of light.

O'Chunkten turned, just to see the Black Knight get destroyed. "Tch...The Count's really gonna bark at meh now..." He sighed and warped away.

A few moments later:

Anna walked up to Marcus, poking his chest. "Where the heck have you been!?"

Marcus flailed his arms frantically, "Sorry, sorry! Duty calls!"

Grace tilted her head in confusion, wondering what other duty Marcus could possibly have. "What duty?"

Marcus quickly changed the subject and pointed to Grace's arm. "What happened to your arm?"

Grace: Long story...

Usagi: I'm just glad everyone's safe and sound!

Minako: Hey, wasn't there a guy here?

Grace: looked around and pouted a bit. "I guess he escaped...it's for the better though..."

Mako gave a light laugh as she walked to the group. "Don't worry; I'm sure they'll be other guys. haha..."

Rei nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I agree with Mako-chan."

Marcus blinked, utterly confused at what was happening. "What's going on now...?"

Minako sighed, playing two fingers on her forehead while she shook her head from side to side. "Geez, we're gonna have to catch you up on a lot of things, aren't we?"

"Maaaybe..." Marcus said in a sheepish tone.


End file.
